Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has been named the inaugural recipient of the Hitchens Prize, an annual award established in memory of Christopher Hitchens, the renowned author, journalist, and longtime Vanity Fair contributor who died in 2011 after a battle with esophageal cancer.

Created by the Dennis and Victoria Ross Foundation, the Hitchens Prize, which carries a cash award of $50,000, will be presented each year to a writer or journalist who embodies the qualities of its namesake: “a commitment to free expression and inquiry, a range and depth of intellect, and a willingness to pursue the truth without regard to personal or professional consequence.“

Gibney has often worked in that mold. His documentaries include the Enron exposé Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, which examined America’s use of torture in the post-9/11 conflicts. He recently won several Emmys for his HBO film Going Clear, a damning investigation into the Church of Scientology.

“Mr. Gibney’s long record of penetrating and provocative film-making across documentary subjects ranging from Enron and Scientology to Frank Sinatra and James Brown meets that standard in every respect,” the foundation said in a statement.

Update: Watch a video of Alex Gibney accepting his award: