1974

  • Fr. Ellwood "Bud" Kieser brings together a broad-based coalition in the entertainment industry to create The HUMANITAS Prize. Lilly Foundation provides initial funding.

1975

  • Ray Bradbury, Fr. "Bud" Kieser and reporter Bob Abernathy announce the first HUMANITAS Prize winners live on the "Today" show.
    • 30 minute winner – NBC’s SUNSHINE "Angel of Doom" by M. Charles Cohen
    • 60 minute winner – NBC’s THE LAW "Complaint Amended" by Joel Oliansky
    • 90 minute winner – CBS’s "Larry" by David Seltzer

1976

  • A luncheon is held at the "Tale of the Cock" on La Cienega to honor the winning writers on the "Today" show.

1980

  • Dan Burke (Capital Cities Broadcasting), Tom Murphy (Capital Cities Broadcasting), John Kluge (Metromedia) and Dan Ritchie (Group W) lead a group of the twenty-five top broadcasters in a 1 million dollar commitment to the HUMANITAS vision.

1985

  • The Children’s Animation and Live Action categories are created.
    • The first Children’s Animation award goes to CBS’s JIM HENSON’S MUPPET BABIES "Eight Take Away One Equals Panic" by Jeffrey Scott.
    • The first Live Action award was awarded to CBS SCHOOLBREAK SPECIAL’S "The Day the Senior Class Got Married" by Charles Purpura.

1989

  • HUMANITAS educational programs expanded to include monthly Master Writer Workshops.
    • HUMANITAS winners including David E. Kelley, Eric Roth, Steve Zaillian, John Wells, Antwone Fisher and Steven Bochco all participate.

1990

  • HUMANITAS retrospectives at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

1991

  • he PBS/Cable category was added.
    • PBS’s "Three Hotels" by Jon Robin Baitz took home the Prize in its first year.

1993

  • A record 480 scripts submitted for the HUMANITAS Prize.

1994

  • The Feature Film category is added.
    • "Schindler’s List" by Steven Zaillian (Universal) is the first winner of the category. Zaillian is also a finalist for "Searching for Bobby Fischer."

2000

  • HUMANITAS Founder Fr. Bud Kieser dies on September 16, 2000.
  • Frank Desiderio, C.S.P. is elected President and Chris Donahue is hired as the first full time Executive Director.
  • The Sundance category is added to the Prize.
    • Gina Prince-Bythewood’s "Love and Basketball" wins the first Sundance HUMANITAS Prize.

2002

  • Bill Moyers receives the first Kieser Award.
    • The award is created in memory of Fr. Bud Kieser and is given to an individual (and/or group) whose work has helped to
      promote a greater appreciation for the dignity of each member of the human family and challenged others to examine the
      role they play in our search for meaning, freedom and love.

2003

  • The first David & Lynn Angell Comedy Fellowship Award is given to UCLA graduate student, Kathy Fischer.
    • Members of the entertainment industry created the fellowship to honor David and Lynn Angell. David was a writer on the
      staff of Cheers and co-creator of “Wings and Frasier”. The Angells were aboard Flight #11 when it crashed into the World
      Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

2006

  • For the first time in over ten years a Special Award is awarded to the documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth," which was
    directed by Davis Guggenheim, and chronicles former Vice President Al Gore's decades long commitment to the issue of
    global warming.

2007

  • HUMANITAS winner and long-time Trustee Cathleen Young joins the HUMANITAS family as Executive Director.
  • Former Executive Director Chris Donahue joins The Shepard/Robin Company as Executive Vice President.

2008

  • HUMANITAS winner John Wells becomes President of the Board.
    • With an astounding 267 Emmy nominations and 55 Emmy wins as a writer/producer for hit series like “ER, The West Wing,
      Third Watch and China Beach”, John Wells helps launch the “new vision” to not only “honor the writers of today, but to also
      empower writers to tell the stories of tomorrow.”

2009

  • HUMANITAS President John Wells announces the creation of the HUMANITAS Script Development
  • Fr. Frank Desiderio becomes Chairman of the Board.
  • Co-founder John Furia, Jr. and HUMANITAS Board member dies on May 7, 2009
  • Soozie Eastman joins the HUMANITAS family as Director of Programs.