Timothy Shriver

Timothy Perry Shriver (born August 29, 1959) is Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics.^[2]

Early life and education

Timothy Shriver was born to Sargent Shriver, a former United States Ambassador to France and the Democratic Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1972, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of Special Olympics. He was raised as a Catholic^[3] along with his siblings, Bobby Shriver, Maria Shriver, Mark Shriver, and Anthony Shriver. He is a member of Kennedy Family through his mother.

Shriver graduated from St. Albans School.^[4] He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1981, his master's degree in Religion and Religious Education from The Catholic University of America in 1988,^[5] and his Ph.D. in education from the University of Connecticut in 1996.

Career

He served as a high school teacher in the New Haven, Connecticut public school system, and as a counselor and teacher in the University of Connecticut branch of the Upward Bound program for disadvantaged youth. He became a Fellow at the School Development Program at the Yale Child Study Center.

He was instrumental in establishing the Social Development Project at the public schools in New Haven, Connecticut and also established the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He was the executive producer on The Ringer, a co-producer on Amistad and the Disney movie The Loretta Claiborne Story, and has served as a producer or co-producer on shows for the American Broadcasting Company, the National Broadcasting Corporation, and the TNT cable channel. He is currently a board member of Malaria No More, a New York-based nonprofit that was launched at the 2006 White House Summit with the goal of ending all deaths caused by malaria.

He is currently the Chairman and CEO of Special Olympics.

Ban of the "R word"

As chairman of Special Olympics, Timothy Shriver has campaigned against mocking of and discrimination against participants in Special Olympics. He has specifically argued against use of what he calls "the R word," meaning retarded, stating that the word, "retard", is very offensive and people with intellectual disabilities should be respected and treated like all other people.

In 2008, Shriver and supporters called for a boycott of the movie Tropic Thunder, claiming that it mocks people with mental disabilities. The movie is written, produced by and stars Ben Stiller. In a commentary for CNN, Shriver wrote in part,

Together with the members of the international coalition, I am asking Steven Spielberg, Stacey Snider, Ben Stiller and the entire "Tropic Thunder" team to stop showing the film, and asking movie theaters and moviegoers to shut this movie out. "Tropic Thunder" is a colossal blunder. Don't show or see "Tropic Thunder."

The degrading use of the word "retard" together with the broader humiliation of people with intellectual disabilities in the film goes way too far. When the R-word is casually bandied about and when bumbling, clueless caricatures designed to mimic the behavior of people with intellectual disabilities are on screen, they have an unmistakable outcome: They mock, directly or indirectly, people with intellectual disabilities. They perpetuate the worst stereotypes. They further exclusion and isolation. They are simply mean.^[6]

Personal life

Shriver married Linda Potter (born January 13, 1956)^[7] on May 31 1986. They currently reside in Chevy Chase, Maryland with their five children: Sophia Rose Shriver (born June 14, 1987); Timothy Potter Shriver (born December 10, 1988); Samuel Kennedy Potter Shriver (born July 13, 1992); Kathleen Potter Shriver (born March 9, 1994), and Caroline Potter Shriver (born July 18, 1997).

Awards and honors

• Honorary degree from University of Connecticut
• Honorary degree fron Niagara University
• Honorary degree from Albertus Magnus College
• The Medal of the City of Athens, Greece
• 1995 Connecticut Citizen of the Year.
• Honorary degree from Loyola University
• Honorary degree from New England College
• The Order de Manuel Amador Guerrera of the Republic of Panama

Board membership

• American Association on Mental Retardation
• Board of the Education Commission of the States’ Compact for Learning and Citizenship
• Council on Foreign Relations
• The Edison Schools Incorporated
• The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Board of Advisors for HealthCorps

See also

Siblings of Timothy Shriver:

• Maria Owings Shriver (b. 1955)
• Mark Kennedy Shriver (b. 1964)
• Robert Sargent Shriver III (b. 1954)
• Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver (b. 1965)

References

External links

• Religion from the Heart: Re-thinking, Re-feeling and Reviving Faith By: Timothy Shriver
• Timothy Shriver at the Internet Movie Database
• Full Biography from the Special Olympics Website
• The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
• Malaria No More