University of St. Thomas' Role

St. Thomas assisted in choosing Opus Prize winners

St. Thomas and the Opus Prize Foundation of Minnetonka collaborated in choosing the recipients of the 2009 Opus Prize.

Dr. Charles Keffer, former provost of St. Thomas, chaired an on-campus committee that began its work in the spring of 2008.

The committee identified 18 people around the world to nominate candidates for the prize and narrowed the list of 23 nominees to 10. A jury of community leaders, including Father Dennis Dease, president of St. Thomas, further narrowed the list and submitted three finalists and one alternate to the foundation’s board.

St. Thomas students, faculty and staff accompanied foundation representatives on due-diligence visits with the finalists in May and June, after which the foundation board chose the winners of the $1 million and two $100,000 prizes.

Keffer’s committee and several subcommittees planned the Nov. 4 event at Orchestra Hall, held luncheons Nov. 5 on the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses for the recipients to meet students, faculty and staff, and produced videos and marketing communications materials.