Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson of Bozeman received a Jefferson Award for Public Service at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Tuesday for his 16 years of work promoting literacy and girls’ education in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mortenson, 51, has established more than 90 schools in remote regions of those countries since 1993. He is also the co-author of “Three Cups of Tea,” the bestselling account of how promoting education became his life’s work, and executive director of Central Asia Institute, the nonprofit organization he founded to support that work.

The 2009 Jefferson Award recipients were announced at a gala dinner at Washington’s Union Station. Mortenson was recognized in the category of “greatest public service by a private citizen.” U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., received a similar award for “greatest public service by an appointed official.”

“This is a great honor,” Mortenson said in a prepared statement. It is “humbling to be in the company of those who have dedicated their lives to be of service to others, and selflessly put communities, country and the world before themselves.”

The Jefferson Awards, known in some circles as the “Nobel Prize” for community and public service, were started in 1972 by the Wilmington, Del.-based American Institute for Public Service. Past recipients include former President Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and children’s rights’ advocate Marion Wright Edelman.

The awards are presented on two levels: national and local.

This year’s four national winners included Mortenson and Kennedy, William E. Milliken for “greatest public service benefiting the disadvantaged,” and Jennifer Staple for “greatest public service by an individual 35 years or under.

The local awards recognize everyday people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition or reward, according to the institute. This year, eight people were honored in that category.

Mortenson noted in a prepared statement announcing the prize that despite the war in Afghanistan and the unrest in Pakistan, Central Asia Institute is having its best year ever.

“Eighteen new schools are under way and, because of fierce community support, our schools continue to increase dramatically in enrollment and now hundreds of girls graduate annually and are going on into teaching, health care, engineering, law school and even one aspiring police officer,” he said.

On Wednesday, Mortenson was scheduled to give a keynote speech at the 60th annual Current Strategy Forum, a gathering of 1,200 military leaders and strategic command policymakers at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. On Thursday, he is expected to join author Khalid Hoesseni and actress Angelina Jolie at several United Nations-sponsored events in conjunction with World Refugee Day.

He said that “the best part of this week” has been traveling with his wife, Tara Bishop, and two children, Amira and Khyber.

“The most painful part about my work is to be gone so much and since school is out, we are having an incredible time being together n 10 whole days n for the first time in many months,” he said. “Now that’s paradise for me.”

Karin Ronnow can be reached at kronnow@dailychronicle.com or 582-2659.

(c) Bozeman Daily Chronicle 2009

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