The $4,000 cash prize is awarded biennially and honors individuals who have made substantial contributions to fostering peace in the Redwood Coast region.
A survivor of the Holocaust and the author most recently of "Altruism, Intergroup Apology, Forgiveness and Reconciliation," Oliner joined Humboldt State as a professor of sociology in 1971. He and his wife Pearl are former HSU Scholars of the Year and he founded the Humboldt Journal of Social Relations in 1973.
His former students teach at Humboldt State, College of the Redwoods and public schools across Humboldt County, the state and the nation, carrying his message of altruism and reconciliation.
Oliner continues to speak regularly at area schools and colleges and previously taught a workshop on altruism and forgiveness for Humboldt State's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which serves adults over the age of 60.
A board member of Temple Beth El, where he teaches Yiddish, Oliner helps raise funds locally to assist the victims of the ongoing genocide in Darfur.