HOMEABOUTMEDIARESEARCH & ANNOUNCEMENTSTDDVPBOOKSPRESENTATIONSCONSULTATIONSFORENSICSCLINICALVernon Neppe OrganizationWelcome to our information gateway.HOMESpecial Announcement 22 August 2016:  Dr Vernon Neppe and Dr Edward Close win prestigious ISPE international prize: the Whiting Memorial Award for 2016.Dr. Edward Close and Dr. Vernon Neppe were honored earlier this month (August 2016) with thecoveted 2016 Whiting Memorial Award for “expanding boundaries of scientific understanding”. The Whiting Memorial Fund is a philanthropic fund administered by the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry ("ISPE") (thethousand.com) to reward individuals and groups, whose accomplishments and goals exemplify the ideals of ISPE. (http://www.thethousand.com/about/whiting-memorial-award/2016-dr-vernon-neppe-and-dr-edward-close/)The official announcement mentions that:This international award is open to everyone, and is given to a person/ persons or organization (outside or within ISPE) who typifies the I.S.P.E. ideal of “someone who strives to benefit society in general through advanced enquiry, original research and/or creative contributions, and who has demonstrated significant progress in these endeavors”. This sought after Prize, therefore, can be given to anyone worldwide in any discipline. The award may be conferred yearly but historically has been seldom awarded, because it is only conferred when the committee unanimously chooses a worthy nominee. ISPE’s only mission is “to attract the world's most intellectually gifted individuals and hopefully direct their achievements for the betterment of all humankind.” ISPE advances no political, governmental, religious, race, gender, ethnic, activist or academic agenda. “This is what ISPE is all about: Making our world better by encouraging profound excellence”, emphasized Stephen Levin, the ISPE President.  “This award should have happened a long time ago to Drs Neppe and Close. It’s well-deserved and too long coming.” Dr. Neppe and Dr. Close are already “Diplomates of the ISPE” — the highest public level of ISPE achievement: Currently there are about two dozen such Diplomates worldwide.What is unique is that the ISPE organization played a special major role in this first joint award of the Whiting Prize: Vernon Neppe MD, PhD, Fellow Royal Society (SAf), and Edward Close PhD, PE, actually met through their ISPE membership. Moreover, these two scientists deliberately specifically joined ISPE to collaborate with another member on developing a unified theoretical model for reality: They had both already developed their own models but “we regarded that as insufficient. We needed to combine any expertise and knowledge we had to progress with this task, which we regarded as, and still regard as, the ‘song we’re singing in this world’. This work gone beyond us and we realize that development of an