Michael Novak

Michael Novak
Novak in 2004 at the Washington Foreign Press Center
Born	Michael John Novak Jr. (1933-09-09)September 9, 1933 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	February 17, 2017(2017-02-17) (aged 83) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Title	US Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1981–1982)
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Karen Laub-Novak ​ ​ (m. 1963; died 2009)​ [1][2]
Awards	Templeton Prize (1994)
Scholarly background
Education	Stonehill College (BA) Pontifical Gregorian University (STB) Harvard University (MA)
Influences	Daniel Bell[3] Jacques Maritain[4]
Scholarly work
Discipline	Philosophy
School or tradition	Neoconservatism Roman Catholicism
Institutions	Stanford University State University of New York at Old Westbury Syracuse University American Enterprise Institute
Notable works	The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982)
Influenced	Alfredo Cristiani[5]
Website	michaelnovak.net

Michael John Novak Jr. (September 9, 1933 – February 17, 2017) was an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than forty books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982). In 1993 Novak was honored with an honorary doctorate at Universidad Francisco Marroquín^[6] due to his commitment to the idea of liberty. In 1994 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which included a million-dollar purse awarded at Buckingham Palace. He wrote books and articles focused on capitalism, religion, and the politics of democratization.

Novak served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1981 and 1982 and led the US delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1986.^[7] Additionally, Novak served on the board of directors of the now-defunct Coalition for a Democratic Majority, a conservative anti-Communist faction of the Democratic Party, which sought to influence the party's policies in the same direction that the Committee on the Present Danger later did. Novak was George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. In 2004, he claimed to be a lifelong Democrat, while noting that he has supported many Republican candidates.^[8]