In recognition of Dr. Orlando Samões’ outstanding research in the fields of ethics, politics, and economics, the Acton Institute will be awarding him the 2021 Novak Award.
Named after the distinguished American theologian, Michael Novak (1933—2017), this $15,000 award rewards new outstanding scholarly research concerning the relationship between religion, economic freedom, and the free and virtuous society. This award recognizes those scholars who early in their academic career demonstrate outstanding intellectual merit in advancing the understanding of religion’s connection to human dignity, the rule of law, limited government, religious liberty, and freedom in economic life.
Dr. Orlando Samões is the head of the undergraduate degree program in political science and international relations at the Institute for Political Studies at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (IEP-UCP), as well as the editor-in-chief of Nova Cidadania Quarterly Journal. At IEP-UCP he teaches, as part of a Great Books curriculum, on figures such as Adam Smith, Montesquieu, and Rousseau. Dr. Samões also teaches political science at the Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics.
Samões received his Ph.D. in political science from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa with a thesis entitled “Natural Liberty and Virtue: A Study on the Ideas of Self-Love and Benevolence in Adam Smith’s Thought.” His current research concerns political economy and political theory, with an emphasis on the intersection of political, moral, and economic principles.
