HONORS AWARDED by the
EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING RESEARCH
INSTITUTE
This document describes honors awarded by the
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. It also provides a schedule and
description of procedures for nomination, selection, and award of each honor.
I) HONOR DESCRIPTION
The George W. Housner Medal of the Earthquake Engineering
Research Institute
The George
W. Housner Medal of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute is awarded to
recognize members of the Institute and others who have made extraordinary and
lasting contributions to public earthquake safety through the development and
application of earthquake hazard reduction practices and policies. This award
is not established to recognize major engineering or scientific research contributions
or advancements, but it may very well be given to individuals who have made
such contributions.
This, the most prestigious award of the Institute, shall be
granted to at most one individual and perhaps none in each calendar year. This
award may be granted only upon the unanimous concurrence of the Board of
Directors. Each recipient shall receive an engraved medal, framed citation, and
costs for attendance to receive the medal at the Annual Meeting of the
Institute.
The Annual
Distinguished Lecture Award of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
The annual Distinguished Lecture Award of the Earthquake
Engineering Research Institute is awarded to members of the Institute to
recognize and encourage communication of outstanding professional contributions
of major importance for earthquake hazard mitigation. The contributions of the
recipient and the topic of the Distinguished Lecture should be of broad
interest to the membership and may range from research to public policy
development. The award is established to communicate developments on topics of
major significance for earthquake hazard mitigation.
The recipients shall prepare an address on the agreed topic
for presentation as the Distinguished Lecture at the upcoming EERI Annual
Meeting. This lecture shall be subsequently presented as a nationwide series of
lectures throughout the year. The lecture shall be published in Earthquake
Spectra (<20 pages). Each recipient shall receive a framed citation and
travel costs for presentation of the lecture.
The Special
Recognition Award of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
The Special Recognition Award is presented to an individual,
company, or organization that has made substantial contributions to the field
of seismic safety and earthquake risk reduction, having directly affected the
seismic safety of the general population.
Honorary Membership of
the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Honorary membership of the Earthquake Engineering Research
Institute is awarded to recognize members who have made sustained and
outstanding contributions to the field of earthquake engineering and/or to the
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the pursuit of its objectives.
Each recipient shall be announced at the Annual Meeting of the Institute and
shall receive a framed citation and lifetime membership with waiver of
membership dues.
Outstanding Paper
Awards for Earthquake Spectra
Outstanding Paper Awards for Earthquake Spectra are awarded
to authors of papers judged to be outstanding contributions to earthquake
hazard mitigation. Papers of recipients must be judged to have made a
significant impact on the profession, to provide a significant advance in the
state-of-the-art or understanding of a particular topic, to be of exceptional
technical quality with concise and informative illustrations and to be well
written for a broad audience. Only papers published in issues of Earthquake
Spectra during the preceding calendar year shall be eligible for consideration.
All
nominations for the awards shall be reviewed and recommended by the Editorial
Board of Earthquake Spectra. Recommendations shall be made through the Honors
Committee in confidence to the Board of Directors. Award(s) shall be presented
to recipients as appropriate at the Annual Meeting of the Institute. The number of awards per year is to depend
on the quality of papers and shall not exceed two. In some years, when no paper
is deemed exceptional, no award shall be granted. Each author of papers chosen
for the award shall receive a framed citation.
II)
NOMINATION PROCEDURES
1)
The schedule for nomination, selection, and award of EERI honors is
summarized in Table 1.
2)
Nominations for each of the awards shall be requested from the
membership via the EERI Newsletter. Suggestions for nominations for the
Outstanding Paper awards also shall be solicited using a check box on the
manuscript review form. Nominations for all awards except the Distinguished
Lecture Award (DLA) shall be requested in the time interval determined by the
Annual Meeting and the third Board Meeting, which usually occurs in August.
Nominations for the DLA shall be requested in the time interval between the
second annual Board Meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Institute.
3)
All nominations shall be submitted in written format to the Executive
Director and chair of the Honors Committee with the understanding that if
nominees are selected for recommendation to the Board then written citations (~
1/2 page) will be requested. (Nominations for "Outstanding Paper
Awards" shall be forwarded to the Editor for Earthquake Spectra.)
4)
Upon receipt of nominations, nominators shall receive a letter of
appreciation from the Institute, but nominees shall remain confidential pending
formal selection and award of the honor.
III) SELECTION PROCEDURES
1)
Candidates for each award shall
be reviewed and selected annually by the Honors Committee for recommendation in
confidence to the Board of Directors. The Honors Committee shall meet
bi-annually, once at the Annual Meeting of the Institute, and once in September
or October, following the third annual Board Meeting in August.
2)
Conflict of interest and bias in the selection of Honor awards shall be
avoided with the utmost of care. Nominees for any of the awards that are also
serving as members of the Board of Directors, the Honors Committee, or the
Editorial Board for Spectra, shall be precluded from all deliberations
concerning the selection of candidates for the award for which they have been
nominated. Should preclusion of a Board Member or Committee Chair be required,
Board and Committee activities required to nominate and select candidates for
the award shall be chaired by an ad hoc chairperson selected by other members
of the Board or committee. All oral and written deliberations concerning
selection of the ad hoc chairperson and candidates for the corresponding award
shall be kept in the strictest of confidence from award nominees.
3)
Specific notes for each award are:
a) Annual
EERI Distinguished Lecture Award -- Because this award is to be granted
each year, a nominee and two alternates shall be recommended to the Board each
year. Candidates shall be selected for
recommendation by the Honors Committee at their meeting at the Annual Meeting
of the Institute.
b) Special
Recognition Award -- The Honors Committee shall make nominations to the
board prior to the final Board meeting of the calendar year. In some years no
nominations may be made, while in other years several nominations may be submitted
to the Board for action. If no candidates are recommended, the Board should be
so notified in writing. From the list of candidates, the Board may elect no
awardees or several, as it determines appropriate in a particular year.
c) EERI Honorary Membership
-- Candidates shall be selected for recommendation by the Honors Committee at
their second annual meeting. No more than five, and in some years no
candidates, may be recommended to the Board for action. If no candidates are
recommended then the Board should be so notified in writing. From the list of
candidates recommended, the Board may elect no more than two members to
Honorary Membership status each year.
d) Outstanding
Paper Awards for Earthquake Spectra -- Candidates for these awards are to
be selected for recommendation by the Honors Committee from nominations
submitted by the membership or the Editorial Board for Earthquake Spectra.
Activities of the Editorial Board pertaining to submission of the nominations
shall be chaired by the journal's editor, unless a paper affiliated with the
editor has been nominated, in which case, the board activities shall be chaired
by an ad hoc chairperson. Each nomination for an outstanding paper award shall
be accompanied with a succinct written justification of 1/2 to 1 page in
length. Each justification, not submitted by a member of the Editorial Board,
shall be reviewed by a member of the Board most familiar with the technical
field. All nominations together with justifications and reviews shall be submitted
to the Honors Committee. The Distinguished Lecture published annually in
Earthquake Spectra shall not be eligible for the Outstanding Paper Award.
Written recommendations for the Outstanding Paper Awards shall be submitted to
the Honors Committee by August 31. If no candidates are recommended in any
calendar year, then the editor of Earthquake Spectra should so indicate in
writing.
e) The George W. Housner Medal -- Written justifications for one
nominee and one alternate may be recommended to the Board each calendar year.
Citations for each candidate will be prepared prior to consideration by the
Board by prominent and well-qualified members of the Institute. If no
candidates are recommended by the Honors Committee, the Board should be so
notified in writing.
IV) AWARD PROCEDURES
1) Each
EERI honor award shall be announced and presented, if appropriate, at the EERI
Annual Meeting.
2) Each
award together with pictures of the recipients and citations shall be announced
in the Newsletter.
3) Recipients
for each award shall be notified prior to the Annual Meeting by the President
of the Institute.
4) Citation
materials and benefits for each award are:
a) The
Annual EERI Distinguished Lecture Award
i)
Framed citation
ii)
Travel costs for presentation of the lecture at the EERI Annual Meeting
and subsequently at appropriate institutions
iii)
An honorarium in the amount of $2500 for the presentation of the lecture
to a minimum of 5 student chapters, in addition to the initial lecture
presented at the EERI Annual Meeting.
iv)
Honoraria for lectures given to Societies, Organizations or other
Institutions shall be arranged with the host institution.
c) EERI
Honorary Membership
ii) Lifetime membership (waiver of
membership dues)
d)
Outstanding Paper Awards for Earthquake Spectra
i)
Framed citation
e) The
George W. Housner Medal
i)
Framed citation
ii)
Engraved medal
iii) Costs to attend the Annual
Meeting
5) Citation
materials for recipients selected by the Board at their last meeting of the
year shall be reviewed immediately by the Executive Director in order that they
might be resubmitted to the original authors, if necessary, for improvement in
time for printing, framing, engraving (Housner Medal), and presentation at the
EERI Annual Meeting.
6) Recipients
of the Distinguished Lecture award, Special Recognition Award, Honorary
Membership, and the George W. Housner Medal shall receive free registration and
travel for the Annual Meeting. Travel and other expenses of Outstanding Spectra
Paper awardees to attend the Annual Meeting to present their papers will not be
paid automatically but will be treated on a case-by-case basis.
Awards Schedule