Kathryn Wasserman Davis, an accomplished internationalist and philanthropist, has established a nationwide competition to recognize and reward the creation of innovative peace projects and assist in their implementation next summer. Titled 100 Projects for Peace, the competition seeks to encourage creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship and support today’s motivated youth to try out their own ideas for building peace in the 21st century.

Mrs. Davis, mother of Princeton University Trustee Shelby M. C. Davis ’58, has chosen to celebrate her centennial by committing $1 million in funding for these projects. "I want to use my 100th birthday to help young people launch some immediate initiatives—things that they can do during the summer of 2007—that will bring new thinking to the prospects of peace in the world," says Mrs. Davis.

Princeton students are eligible to enter the competition because of the University’s participation in the Davis United World College Scholars Program. Funded by Shelby M. C. Davis, the program awards scholarships to students who graduate from a United World College school and then attend one of 76 designated U.S. colleges or universities. United World College is an organization of 12 pre-university schools around the world, all dedicated to promoting international understanding.

All undergraduates, including seniors, at participating colleges and universities—not just Davis United World College scholarship recipients—are eligible to enter the contest. The 100 projects judged to be the most promising and achievable will be funded at $10,000 each. The intent is to come up with an array of initiatives that together have impact around the world, with individual projects focusing on achievable, grassroots action.