John Templeton, 1912–2008

The philanthropist Sir John Marks Templeton passed away today—a sad moment for all who benefited from his support and his ideas.

Born in Tennessee, he attended Yale University and Oxford before becoming an enormously successful investor in world markets. Both his education in England and his global business interests led him toward the British citizenship he obtained in 1968, but he retained a serious interest in American religion. A member of the Presbyterian Church, he sat on the board of the Princeton Theological Seminary for more than forty years.

He used his wealth to create the John Templeton Foundation, which has aided First Things in its work, and to establish the Templeton Prize, which has been awarded to several of our authors. His death, his son reports, was peaceful and long expected, but it marks a sad loss, and he will be missed.