2026 Ramsey Award Winner

Dr. Ana S. Iltis

The Center for Bioethics and Culture and the Paul Ramsey Award Committee are delighted to announce that Dr. Ana S. Iltis will receive the 2026 Paul Ramsey Award for Excellence in Bioethics. Ana S. Iltis, PhD. is the Carlson Professor of University Studies, Professor of Philosophy, and Director, Center for Bioethics, Health and Society at Wake Forest University. She holds an appointment in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She is a past President of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, a Fellow of the Hastings Center, and a Non-Resident Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Dr. Iltis is Founding Co-Editor of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics (Johns Hopkins University Press), Associate Editor of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (Oxford University Press), Associate Editor of Christian Bioethics (Oxford University Press), and co-editor of the Annals of Bioethics (Routledge) series. She recently edited the Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics. Iltis’ scholarly focus is primarily on the ethical conduct of human research, including research involving children and mental health, first-in-human studies, and risk in research decision-making. She has published extensively on ethics and policy issues regarding organ transplantation and emerging biotechnologies as well as the role of religion in bioethics. She earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy at Rice University and completed bioethics training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

About The Paul Ramsey Award

The Paul Ramsey Award honors those who have made an outstanding contribution to the bioethics discussion and are actively engaged in society; facing the challenges of the 21st century, profoundly defending the dignity of humankind, and enthusiastically embracing ethical biotechnology for the human good. The Ramsey Award is given to those who have demonstrated exemplary achievement in the field of bioethics.

Who was Paul Ramsey?

Paul Ramsey is regarded by many as one of the most important ethicists of the twentieth century. He was a distinguished writer on bioethics a generation ago, and served as Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion, Princeton University. Ramsey shines as an almost lone beacon in the general darkness of academic bioethics, since his commitment to the sanctity and dignity of human life was paramount.

Previous Ramsey Award Recipients

• 2014: Daniel Sulmasy
• 2015: John F. Kilner
• 2016: Brent Waters
• 2017: David Albert Jones
• 2018: Farr A. Curlin
• 2019: Patrick T. Smith
• 2020/21: Helen Alvaré
• 2022: C. Ben Mitchell
• 2023: Gilbert Meilaender
• 2024: Jeffrey Bishop