The Dawn Of A New Space Age

About the Event

We hope you'll join us in person, in Philadelphia to celebrate Jared Isaacman and his acceptance of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's 18th Annual Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Service. 

Wednesday, November 13, 2024
5:30 p.m. Reception • 6:00 p.m. Program • 7:30 p.m. Adjournment 

FPRI - 123 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19109

The Benjamin Franklin Award Recipient 

Jared Isaacman is the founder and CEO of Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR), the leader in integrated payment processing solutions. He is an accomplished pilot & astronaut with over 7,000 flight hours of aviation experience, including ratings in multiple experimental and ex-military aircraft.  He was the commander of Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian mission to space that helped raise over $240 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® to help eradicate childhood cancer.

Jared also holds several world records including two speed-around-the-world flights in 2008 and 2009 that raised money and awareness for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. He has flown in over 100 airshows as part of the Black Diamond Jet Team, dedicating every performance to charitable causes. In 2011, Isaacman co-founded what would become the world’s largest private air force, Draken International, to train pilots for the United States Armed Forces.

About the Benjamin Franklin Award

An inventor, entrepreneur, writer, diplomat, and lover of liberty, Benjamin Franklin devoted himself from an early age to public service and the resolution of problems through objective analysis that draws upon the best knowledge available – setting the standard to which FPRI always aspires.

The Benjamin Franklin Award is awarded each year to the American whose service as a statesperson, sage, or soldier best exemplifies the ideals of Benjamin Franklin and the United States. Dr. Henry A. Kissinger was the first honoree, other past honorees include Gen. James Mattis, Robert D. Kaplan, General H.R. McMaster, Walter Russell Mead, Anne Applebaum, Phebe Novakovic, and the late Fouad Ajami.

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