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Administrative Committee Report: Committee on Medals and Awards
Brenda L. Lonsbury-Martin
The Committee on Medals and Awards is charged with recommending to the Executive Council candidates and citations for the awards of the Society, with the exception of the ASA Science Communication Awards and certain other awards as may, from time to time, be assigned by the Executive Council to the Committee on Prizes and Special Fellowships. The recipients of each of these awards and the award citations shall be determined by the Executive Coun- cil. The Committee is further charged with recommending to the Executive Council nominees and citations for the A.B. Wood Medal, and where appropriate for awards by other organizations, and with forwarding information on non-Society awards to the appropriate Technical Commit- tee Chairs for possible action or advice.
The Committee on Medals and Awards, unofficially known as the MAC, is a standing committee of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). The MAC is composed of a chair and as many other members as there are Technical Committees (TCs) of the Society, all of whom are ASA Fel- lows. The current membership consists of 13 members and the chair (who does not represent a TC). The terms of the chair and MAC members are limited as noted on the ASA website (see acousticalsociety.org/procedures#awards). It is important to appreciate that these positions are not appointed forever and turn over regularly. The chair’s major responsibilities are coordinating MAC activities; making certain that all work is completed on time and in good order; communicating with ASA Melville Office, which provides support to the Committee’s work; and reporting the Committee’s recommendations to the Executive Council (EC).
Each regular member of the Committee is an ex officio member of the TC represented by its member. MAC members have two important roles in that they are responsible for representing their own fields by sug- gesting candidates for awards and for assisting TC subcommittees in preparing nomination dossiers.
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However, when voting, MAC members are respon- sible for reviewing all nominations and supporting the best candidates regardless of the technical field involved. Additional responsibilities are that members are expected to attend both Spring and Fall ASA meet- ings and to spend a significant amount of time related to the nomination and dossier preparations of their TC.
Annually, the Society recognizes outstanding achieve- ments in acoustics with several honors, which are reviewed on ASA website (see bit.ly/3m1eK1e). Here are noted details concerning the purpose of each award or honor, the eligibility requirements, and a record of prior recipients. The presentations of these awards are divided between meetings so that at the Fall meetings, nomina- tions for the Gold Medal, the R. Bruce Lindsay Award, and the Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal are reviewed. The last medal is a cross-specialty award that requires each nomination be supported by two or more TCs. Nominations for the Technical Area Awards, including named awards and Silver Medals, are evaluated at the Spring meetings.
The Technical Area Awards recognize individuals, who can be nonmembers, for their contributions to the advance- ment of science, engineering, or human welfare through the application of acoustic principles or through research accomplishments in acoustics. The eligibility of a TC to award a Silver Medal is determined each year based on the size of the TC, represented by the number of ASA members who choose the TC as their primary interest in acoustics.
Furthermore, the MAC reviews other nominations for ASA awards, including the Distinguished Service Citation that is awarded to a present or former member of the Society in recognition of outstanding service to the ASA and the Honorary Fellowship for a member or nonmember who has attained eminence in acoustics or who has rendered out- standing service to acoustics. The MAC also recommends
Volume 17, issue 3 | Fall 2021 • Acoustics Today 79