Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@aol.com>]

 CENTER FOR INQUIRY
 PRESS RELEASE
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Contact: Kevin Christopher
 Phone: (716) 636-1425 ext. 224
 Fax: (716) 636-1733
 E-mail: kchristopher@centerforinquiry.net

 Amherst, N.Y. (May 11, 2001)-On Sunday, May 13th 2001, Dr. Paul Kurtz,
 professor emeritus of philosophy at the State University of New York at
 Buffalo will receive the university's highest award-the Chancellor Charles
 P. Norton Medal. University President William Greiner and University Council
 Chairman Jeremy Jacobs will present the medal to Kurtz as part of the
 University at Buffalo's 155th commencement ceremonies.

 Kurtz is the founder and chairman of the Council for Secular Humanism and
 the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.
 The citation recognizes Kurtz as "a world-renowned philosopher" and "an
 authority in the fields of secular humanism and rational inquiry."

 In 1969, he founded Prometheus Books, which is widely viewed as one of the
 world's foremost publishers in such areas as philosophy, science and
 critical thinking. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
 of Science, he is the author or editor of more than thirty books, sixty book
 chapters and 650 articles or reviews. Among his most influential writings is
 his book, The Transcendental Temptation (Prometheus 1986), a seminal work on
 the subject of secular humanism. Kurtz's observations on the
 paranormal-translated into many languages-have generated lively debates, and
 he is a highly sought guest lecturer in the United States and abroad.

 The Norton Medal is presented annually in recognition of a person who, in
 Norton's words, "performed some great thing which is identified with
 Buffalo... a great civic or political act, a great book, a great work of
 art, a great scientific achievement, or any other thing which, in itself is
 truly great or ennobling, and which dignifies the performer and Buffalo in
 the eyes of the world."

 Dr. Kurtz received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1952. In addition
 to writing The Transcendental Temptation, Kurtz is the author or editor of
 Skepticism & Humanism: The New Paradigm (Transaction, 2001), Skeptical
 Odysseys (2001), Embracing the Power of Humanism (Roman & Little, 2000),
 Humanist Manifesto 2000 (1999), The Courage to Become (Praeger/Greenwood
 1997), Toward a New Enlightenment: The Philosophy of Paul Kurtz (Transaction
 1994), The New Skepticism (Prometheus 1992), The Transcendental Temptation
 (Prometheus 1986), and Philosophical Essays in Pragmatic Naturalism
 (Prometheus 1991).

 Kurtz makes frequent appearances on national TV and radio programs,
 including "Larry King Live," "MSNBC Investigates," "Nightline,"
 "McNeil-Lehrer Report," "Nightwatch," "CBS World of Religion," National
 Public Radio, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN News, BBC Radio, Associated
Press Radio, and "All Things Considered."

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