Professor Bruce Ackerman Receives Tang Prize
Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science Bruce Ackerman ’67 was awarded the 2026 Tang Prize in Rule of Law, as announced at a press event in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 18.
Samuel Yin established the Tang Prize in Dec. 2012. It consists of four award categories: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Every two years, four independent and professional selection committees, comprising many internationally renowned experts, scholars, and Nobel laureates, choose Tang Prize laureates who have made substantive contributions and generated a far-reaching impact on the world, regardless of race, nationality, gender, or religion. A cash prize of $50 million New Taiwan (“NT,” approximately $1.6 million USD) is allocated to each category, with a $10 million NT (approximately $320,000 USD) grant intended for research or educational outreach programs.
The Chairman of the Tang Prize Selection Committee in the Rule of Law Jiunn-rong Yeh said, “[Ackerman’s] comparative engagements and passionate commitment to understanding constitutional legitimacy and popular sovereignty … have inspired constitutional lawyers around the world in their pursuit of social justice and the rule of law.”
During Tang Prize Week, Ackerman will receive his award on Sept. 18, 2026, and participate in a discussion by leading experts on his lifetime contributions.
Ackerman is the author of 19 books on political philosophy, constitutional law, and public policy. “Before the Next Attack” (2006) served as a basis for the reform of the French Constitution dealing with emergency powers. “The Stakeholder Society,” co-authored with Jacquin D. Bierman Professor in Taxation Anne Alstott ’87, served as a key element in reform initiatives in many European nations, as well as Brazil and India, to guarantee every person a fair share of the nation’s wealth by providing them with a “citizen stake” consisting of a substantial cash grant as they reach maturity.
“Revolutionary Constitutions” (2019) put the worldwide constitutional crisis in historical perspective by comparing the postwar experience of countries as different as France, India, Iran, Italy, Israel, Poland, South Africa, and the U.S. — and suggesting that these nations have a good deal to learn from one another in confronting the current assault on checks and balances.
Most recently, he authored “The Postmodern Predicament” (2024), which deals with the fundamental ways the internet revolution is transforming the struggle for a meaningful life. Ackerman argues that 20th-century existentialists, like Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, offer crucial insights into the shattering challenges of the internet age. He follows their lead in proposing a series of decisive reforms that promise to reduce — if not eliminate — the clear and present danger to constitutional democracy by the postmodern world.
Photo by Harold Shapiro, 2026
