Putting Vision into Action
Dr. Arthur Schwartz
Executive Vice President

n important transition has taken place recently at the John Templeton Foundation. Last year was our 20th anniversary, and it marked our passage from adolescence into young adulthood. In its early days, the Foundation really was a “mom and pop” operation, with all the strengths that such a family enterprise brings. But the organization has matured significantly since then. Though still a family philanthropy, our endowment has grown considerably, and we have greatly expanded the scope and ambition of our activities.
Our challenge is to use the new resources at our disposal to best advantage, and we are proud to have made a very strong start. Our grantmaking has become more sophisticated and results-oriented, and we are developing strategies that will help us to analyze what works and what does not. In keeping with the high standard set by Sir John, we are determined to get the highest yield on every philanthropic investment—to do philanthropy in a new way.
My mission at the Foundation is to ensure that our bold ambitions get translated into daily operational reality. We are constantly assessing our philanthropic strategies, refining what we already do well and looking for new ways to enhance our effectiveness and impact. My aim is to build an internal culture and a management framework that emphasize continuous learning and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of the Foundation’s work. This requires, above all, a world-class staff, and we are blessed to have one. Any philanthropy is only as good as the people who serve it, no matter how grand or vital its animating ideas.
The results of our commitment to excellence and innovation can be seen across the whole range of the Foundation’s core themes. There is, for example, the Social Equity Venture Fund—or SEVEN Fund, as it is called—a pioneering effort to promote enterprise-based solutions to poverty in the developing world. Its premise is wonderfully contrarian: that even the poorest of the poor have the potential to create wealth, lifting up themselves and their societies. Another key initiative, in a very different field, is the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi), which funds advanced research in physics and cosmology. Directed by two world-class scientists, FQXi supports some of the most speculative, cutting-edge work now being done in physics research. Both projects push well beyond the conventional boundaries of their fields. That is what the Templeton Foundation likes about them—and what makes them unlikely candidates for support from other funding sources.
Our inspiration for such initiatives is, of course, Sir John himself. He has put into place a system for reviewing the Foundation’s activities every five years to make sure that we remain faithful to his intent. This system of oversight is a healthy reminder to those of us who work at the Foundation. But we are not content just to comply with the black-letter provisions set out by Sir John in the Foundation’s charter. We are constantly trying to imagine new ways to apply and extend his profound vision. We return again and again to what we call the Big Questions—questions about the deepest issues of human nature and purpose. It thrills us to be able to pose these questions to some of the best minds in the world and to be their partners in discovery and insight.
This brings me back to the subject of people. Our biggest challenge as we grow over the next several years is to expand our talented and deeply committed staff. We need to hire many more outstanding individuals, people who possess not just the necessary skills and experience, but also our passion for the philanthropic mission set out by Sir John. During lectures that I gave recently at West Point, I was struck by the unanimity of purpose shared by the cadets. All of them understood that they were taking an oath not to the President or the country or the government, but to the Constitution of the United States. The John Templeton Foundation needs a similar ethic. We need to expand the circle of those who take inspiration every day from the awesome gift of Sir John’s vision.