PEOPLE : An Award Goes Global

Malibu philanthropist Alan Gleitsman is going international with his awards that recognize those who initiate positive social change.

Last week in Washington, Gleitsman announced establishment of the Sakharov Award, honoring the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov “whose courage . . . and conviction continue to inspire millions worldwide.”

A $100,000 prize will be given biannually, alternating with the Gleitsman Awards, to a non-American who has fought for justice and equality. The cause may be ethnic tolerance, human rights or the war against hunger.

Since 1990, two American activists each year have shared the $100,000 Gleitsman Award. The 1992 winners are William Wassmuth of Seattle, executive director of the five-state Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, and Louis Clark, executive director of the Government Accountability Project.

Wassmuth’s group seeks peaceful ways of combatting violence by white supremacist groups. Clark’s Washington-based GAP provides assistance to those wanting to “blow the whistle” about unlawful or environmentally unsound practices in their communities or workplaces.

Awards were presented at the National Press Club, where Gleitsman introduced Sakharov’s widow, Elena Bonner.

Judges including Javier Perez de Cuellar, former U.N. general secretary; Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and Ian Martin, secretary general of Amnesty International, will choose the first Sakharov recipient in 1993.