Benjamin Linder Endowed Fund

The Benjamin Linder Endowed Fund supports the UW Center for Human Rights’ activities and research in Central America, and it will also provide support for the Benjamin Linder Justice Awards to students who exemplify the courage and commitment of Benjamin Linder.

The Benjamin Linder Endowed Fund supports the UW Center for Human Rights’ activities and research in Central America, and it will also provide support for the Benjamin Linder Justice Awards to students who exemplify the courage and commitment of Benjamin Linder.

Benjamin Linder

Ben Linder at Cua shop. Photo credit: NicaTech

This fund was established in the name of Benjamin E. Linder, a UW alum, to honor his commitment to justice and human rights through engaged activism and humanitarian efforts aimed at addressing inequalities, development needs and supporting just development in the world. In 2016 we welcomed the endowment to UWCHR from its previous home with the Engineering Department.

Upon graduation in 1983 with a degree in mechanical engineering from UW, Ben moved to Managua, Nicaragua. He wanted to support efforts to improve the lives of the country’s poorest people using his engineering knowledge. In 1986, Ben moved from Managua to el Cua to help form a team to build a hydroelectric plant to bring electricity to the town. On April 28, 1987, Ben was killed in a Contras ambush along with Sergio Hernández and Pablo Rosales. Ben was wounded by a grenade and then shot at point-blank range in the head. The three were traveling traveling through the forest to scout out a construction site for a new dam for the nearby village of San José de Bocay. While in Nicaragua, Ben also worked on vaccination campaigns, using his talents as a juggler, clown and unicyclist to entertain the local children.

Read more about Ben Linder.

Candidates for this award are selected internally.