NEW YORK – World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder will honor former Secretary of State General Colin Powell on November 8 with the WJC’s annual Theodor Herzl Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals who work to promote Herzl’s ideals for a safer, more tolerant world for the Jewish people. 
Legendary film director George Stevens will be honored with the Teddy Kollek Award for the Advancement of Jewish Culture. George Stevens, Jr., will accept the award on his father’s behalf.
General Colin Powell served in the US Army for 35 years, rising to the rank of Four-Star General, and went on to hold senior military and diplomatic positions in four presidential administrations: From 1987–1989, Powell served as President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Advisor, and from 1989–1993 served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both President George H.W. Bush and for President Bill Clinton – the first African American ever to hold this position. Under President George W. Bush, Powell was appointed the 65th Secretary of State.
“General Colin Powell has devoted his life to public service for more than 50 years, representing America and its values of democracy in crises around the world,” said World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder. “General Powell has used the power of diplomacy to build trust and form alliances, and worked tirelessly to promote peace in unstable regions. I have known General Powell for almost four decades and am humbled by his great dedication to this country, to the State of Israel, and to the Jewish people.”
Film director George Stevens is best known for what is often called his ‘American trilogy’ which earned him two Academy Awards – A Place in the Sun (1951), Shane (1953) and Giant (1956) – but his work spans comedies, romance, musicals, and drama. During his army service in WWII, Stevens headed combat motion picture photography for General Eisenhower, capturing memorable images of D-Day, the advance through Normandy, the Liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge and the discovery of the concentration camps at Nordhausen and Dachau, and prepared two films as evidence for the war crimes trials at Nuremberg.
Goerge Stevens, Jr., himself an Oscar winner, is a producer, director, and playwright and the recipient of 17 Emmys and 2 Peabody Awards.
Previous recipients of the Theodor Herzl Award include former US Vice President Joseph Biden, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Elie and Marion Wiesel, former secretaries of state Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz, and, posthumously, Ronald Reagan and Axel Springer. The inaugural Teddy Kollek Award was presented in 2016 to actor Kirk Douglas.
