Pritzker Military Foundation commits $650,000 to Norwich University Military Writers’ Symposium and poses $500,000 matching gift challenge

NORTHFIELD, Vt. — The Pritzker Military Foundation, on behalf of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago, has committed $650,000 to the Norwich University Military Writers’ Symposium.

For over 20 years the foundation, which provides support aimed at deepening public understanding of military history and protecting the health and well-being of service members and veterans, has been a dedicated supporter of the symposium, among numerous other Norwich initiatives. Its latest gift will provide valuable operating funds for the symposium and help grow its endowment.

The Norwich University Military Writers’ Symposium, the only program of its kind at an American university, convenes authors and experts in military history, intelligence and current affairs to offer important perspectives on pressing global concerns.

The foundation’s latest grant also includes an additional matching gift challenge that calls on Norwich to raise $500,000 through 2025 for the newly renamed Carlo D’Este Military Writers’ Endowment. The endowment honors Carlo D’Este (pictured), a 1958 Norwich University graduate who became a decorated U.S. Army colonel, a renowned military historian and symposium co-founder. Annual funds generated by the endowment support the operating costs of the symposium, the William E. Colby Award and year-round student enrichment opportunities on military history and current affairs. Learn more about the Carlo D’Este Military Writers’ Endowment here: https://alumni.norwich.edu/destemilitarywritersendowment.
 

D’Este, who died in November, served as chair of the selection committee for the William E. Colby Award, which Norwich University has presented for 22 years. The award goes annually to a first solo work of fiction or nonfiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of military history, intelligence operations or international affairs.

Colby Award winners receive a $5,000 author honorarium presented with the award during the annual Norwich University Military Writers’ Symposium in Northfield, Vermont. The honorarium is provided through the generosity of the Chicago-based Pritzker Military Foundation, on the Pritzker Military Museum & Library’s behalf.

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About the Pritzker Military Foundation
The Pritzker Military Foundation seeks to support the work of both the Pritzker Military Museum & Library—and similar nonprofit organizations—to preserve American military history, restore historic military artifacts and make them accessible to the public, and provide services and essential resources to active-duty military, veterans and families of service members in all branches of the United States Armed Forces. To learn more, visit www.pritzkermilitaryfoundation.org.

About the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library is open to the public and features an extensive collection of books, artifacts, and rotating exhibits covering many eras and branches of the military. From its founding in 2003, it is a center where citizens and soldiers come together to learn about military history and the role of the military in a democracy. The Museum & Library is a non-partisan, non-government information center supported by its members and sponsors. Each year, the Museum & Library awards the prestigious Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing to recognize a living author who has made a significant contribution to the understanding of military history including military affairs.

About Norwich University
Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in Baccalaureate and Graduate Degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu