February 28, 2002, Grand Rapids, MI - Today the Acton Institute announced the winners of the eleventh annual Lord Acton Essay Competition. Michiel Visser, a doctoral student in legal philosophy at the University of Oxford, was awarded first place and a prize of $2,000 for his essay, "Public Education Versus Liberty: The Pedigree of an Idea."

The Acton Institute's primary mission is to enrich religious leaders' understanding of the free market system. The Lord Acton Essay Competition is one of the Institute's longest-standing and most successful student outreach programs. Students are asked to prepare an essay based on a quotation from Lord Acton, the Institute's namesake, famous for his aphorism, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Second place and $1,000 was awarded to Roberto M. Cid of Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boyton Beach, Florida. Harvard University's Rich Halverson took third place and a prize of $500 for his entry. Honorable mentions were awarded to David Muir of the University of Buckingham and Matthew Davidson Wright of Biola University.