Page 80 - Fall2021

COMMITTEE ON MEDALS AND AWARDS
US or Canadian ASA nominees, whose work is associated with the sea, for the United Kingdom Institute of Acoustics (IOA) A. B. Wood Medal, which is awarded for “distin- guished contributions to the application of underwater acoustics.” Occasionally, the MAC recommends the prepa- ration of nominations for other non-ASA awards such as the US President’s National Medal of Science.
Nominating procedures vary for different awards. For some honors such as the Gold Medal, R. Bruce Lindsay Award, and A. B. Wood Medal, MAC members have the sole responsibility for generating lists of candidates. In contrast, nominees for the Technical Area Awards are proposed by the pertinent TCs, many of which have appointed sub- committees to assume responsibility for this task. For the Distinguished Service Citation and the Honorary Fellow- ship, any member or Fellow of the Society may nominate candidates on forms available from the ASA Melville Office (see asa@acousticalsociety.org). A guideline for preparing the forms and documents for nominating and seconding letters for any award of the Society, along with deadlines, is available from the ASA Melville Office.
ASA members who are interested in suggesting candi- dates for any Society award should contact the chair or the appropriate member of the MAC for information on how to prepare and submit their recommendations. It is impor- tant that specific guidelines be followed because dossiers are the bases on which the MAC conducts its voting. If all the dossiers are arranged similarly and address similar topics, fair and equal treatment of all the candidates is facilitated. Voting on nominees, which is conducted in secret, utilizes a ranking procedure, and this ranking of candidates is reported to the EC, which typically bestows an award on the candidate who received the top ranking by the Com- mittee. Although voting deliberations can be intense, they are always interesting and scholarly. Hopefully, the infor- mation presented here on MAC operations and procedures will encourage ASA members to seek out relevant infor- mation that will assist them in nominating their deserving colleagues for the many awards and honors of the Society.
One only needs to examine the list of ASA award recipi- ents to appreciate the important contributions made by acousticians to humanity (see bit.ly/3m1eK1e). The early awardees included pioneers from every area of acoustics. These were followed by acoustical scientists and practitioners who crafted the acoustics of some of
the world’s outstanding concert halls, contributed to the development of cochlear implants, devices, and meth- ods for the treatment of tumors and diseases, devised a microphone that is a component in cell phones and other devices, and made significant advancements in virtually every area in the acoustics field. It is easy to understand why MAC members have consistently expressed the sentiment that they find their service in identifying individuals who are deserving of the Soci- ety’s medals and awards personally gratifying.
Contact Information
Brenda L. Lonsbury-Martin
brenda.lonsbury-martin@va.gov blonsbury-martin@llu.edu
Research Service (151)
VA Loma Linda Healthcare System 11201 Benton Street
Loma Linda, California 92357, USA
Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery Loma Linda University Health
11234 Anderson Street
Loma Linda, California 92350, USA
80 Acoustics Today • Fall 2021