The Chemical Industry Medal

1. The Chemical Industry Medal may be awarded annually, at the discretion of the Executive Committee of the Society of Chemical Industry America Group. The recipient of the Medal shall be a person who, in the opinion of the Executive Committee, has rendered conspicuous service to applied chemistry.

2. Any nominee should have been an active guiding force in the management of his/her company during periods of maximum growth or development of new chemical or allied fields.  Generally the award is made for lifetime achievement.

3. Nominees for the Award shall be proposed by the Medals Committee of the Executive Committee following a careful screening of the qualifications of all candidates, provided that all SCI Members shall be invited to submit one or more candidates for consideration.  Nominees should not include active officers or Executive Committee members of the Section.  Nominees not selected for the award in any given year may continue to be considered for two years after the original nomination.

4. The Chairman of the Medals Committee shall submit a slate of nominees to the Executive Committee prior to its regular September meeting, at which meeting the Executive Committee shall select a single nominee by an affirmative ballot vote of a majority of Executive Committee members present or having cast absentee ballots.  In case a majority choice cannot be obtained, the Chairman of the Medals Committee shall call for a second ballot, among Executive Committee members present, limited to the two leading candidates, as determined by votes cast on the initial vote except that if two or more candidates are tied for second place, the ballot shall include the first place candidate and all second place candidates. The Chairman may conduct additional ballots if, in his/her opinion, a winner will be selected.  If a majority vote cannot be obtained, the Chairman shall mail a letter ballot to all members of the Executive Committee, following the Letter Ballot Procedure below.

The incumbent Medals Committee shall complete the selection process prior to assigning their responsibilities to the new Medals Committee.

5. Letter Ballot Procedure (same as used in Perkin Medal balloting):

(a) The Chairman of the Committee shall send to each member of the Executive Committee a copy of these rules and a list of all nominees and the reasons for their nominations, presenting these in the form of statement submitted by their proposers, but withholding the identification of the latt(b) The Chairman of the Medals Committee shall request a letter ballot showing both “First Choice” and “Second Choice” votes.  The candidate receiving a majority of the “First Choice” votes cast shall be considered nominated.  In case a choice shall not have been made on the first letter ballot, the Chairman shall request a second letter ballot limited to the two leading candidates, as determined by “First Choice” votes cast on the first letter ballot, excepting that if two or more candidates shall be tied for either first or second place, the second letter ballot shall include any and all first and second place candidates.  If this selection does not eliminate at least one candidate from the second letter ballot, the Chairman shall determine a weighted average vote for each candidate by assigning two points for each “First Choice” vote and one point for each “Second Choice” vote case on the first letter ballot.  The candidate(s) with the lowest weighted average shall not be included on the second letter ballot.  All voting may be done electronically by email.

The Chairman may call for additional letter ballots if he/she believes progress in selecting a candidate can be made.

6. The nomination and voting process shall be scheduled roughly as follows:

• Mid-April:  Medals Chair requests nominations from all SCI Members
• Early June:  deadline for nominations
• June/July:  Medals committee selects candidates for Executive Committee vote
• August: nomination packages sent to Executive Committee
• September:  Executive Committee meeting and vote

7. Immediately following the selection of a nominee by the Executive Committee, the Chairman of the Section shall notify the nominee of his/her selection.  On receipt of the nominee’s acceptance, including his/her agreement to deliver an address at the time of the award, his/her selection shall be official.  Until these conditions are met, the nomination shall not be made public.

8. In the event the nominee selected by the Executive Committee declines to accept the award, the Executive Committee shall be polled by the Chairman to select a new nominee.  The Executive Committee may, if necessary, call upon the Medals Committee for a new slate of nominees.

9. The presentation of the Chemical Industry Medal shall be made by the Chair of the Section at the following March meeting of members of the America Group, to which non-members of the Society shall also be invited to honor the Medalist.  In the absence of both the Chairman and the Vice Chairman, the Executive Committee shall designate a past or present officer to make the presentation.  Following the presentation, the Medalist shall deliver a lecture on a subject of his/her own choosing.

10. The medal may not be received in absentia except under conditions of grave emergency approved by the Chairman of the Section.

11. The Executive Committee of the America Section shall have the power to amend these rules or to decide any matter not specifically provided in them.

Nomination Form – Download here
Contact SCI America at sci-america@sciencehistory.org 

Overview of Perkin Award Process:
Step 1: SCI selects its nominee
• April – SCI Medals Chair solicits nominees from SCI members
• August – SCI Medals Committee narrows field to 2/3 candidates
• September – SCI Executive Committee votes to select SCI nominee

Step 2: Nominees from SCI, ACS, AIChE, and Science History Institute are considered by selection committee who chooses winner.

Perkin Selection Committee consists of: SCI Chair, SCI Vice Chair, Immediate Past SCI Chair, ACS President, AIChE President and Science History Institute President. SCI Secretary is non voting member of selection committee and conducts process
• November – Solicit nominations from ACS, AIChE and the Institute to go along with individual selected in Step 1
• December/January – Nomination packages collected and distributed to selection committee
• January/February – Vote conducted
• March – Winner announced at SCI Executive Committee meeting and notified by SCI

RULES FOR THE AWARD OF THE PERKIN MEDAL
Founded in Commemoration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Coal Tar Color Industry, 1856 – 1906

1. The Perkin Medal may be awarded annually, at the discretion of the Perkin Medal Committee, for outstanding work in applied chemistry.

2. (a) The Award may be made to anyone residing in the United States of America who is actively engaged in the chemical profession in the judgment of the Perkin Medal Committee for outstanding work done at any time during his/her career, whether this work proves successful at the time of execution or publication, or becomes valuable in subsequent development of the industry.

(b) To be considered for the Perkin Medal Award, a candidate should have done applied chemical work resulting in outstanding commercial development. His/her contribution may represent either personal scientific accomplishment or leadership of group effort. It should not have been primarily administrative or promotional, or limited to a role in initiating the activity. His/her contribution should have clearly played a major role in the success of the development.

3. The Medal may not be received in absentia, except under conditions of grave emergency, approved by the Chairman of the America Section of the Society of Chemical Industry.

4. The Medal, when awarded, shall be presented at the regular September meeting of members of the America Section of the Society of Chemical Industry, to which non-members shall also be invited to honor the Medalist. The presentation shall be made by the senior officer of the Section present at the meeting. Following the presentation, the Medalist shall deliver a lecture on a subject of his/her own choosing.

5. The Perkin Medal Committee shall consist of the following:
• Chair The Chair of the America Section of the Society of Chemical Industry.
• Vice Chair: The Vice Chair of the America Section of the Society of Chemical Industry.
• Secretary: The Secretary of the America Section of the Society of Chemical Industry. The Secretary shall have no vote except under Rule 11 (c) below

Members at Large:

(a) The Immediate Past Chair of the America Section of the Society of Chemical Industry.

(b) The President of the America Chemical Society.

(c) The President of the America Institute of Chemical Engineers.

(d) The President of the Science History Institute.

6. (a) The Chairman, Vice Chairman and each member at large shall be entitled to one vote on the Committee. In the event that one person occupies two or more of the offices mentioned, his/her vote shall be assigned to the Society of which he/she is an officer first mentioned in the foregoing list: and his/her place and vote in the Society latter mentioned shall be assigned to a person designated by the Executive Committee or Board of Directors of the latter group.

(b) No employee of any of the above organizations may serve on the Perkin Medal Committee.

7. The Committee shall meet at the call of the Chairman or on written request of a majority of the Committee submitted to the Secretary in writing.

8. (a) Each member of the Perkin Medal Committee, as set forth in Rule 5, shall be certified in writing to the Secretary of the Committee by his respective Society on or before April 1. Certified members shall serve from April 1 to March 31 following, inclusive.

(b) Vacancies due to inability of designated persons to serve may be filled by the Executive Committee or Board of Directors of their respective organizations and such replacements will be recognized on receipt of written certification by the Secretary of the Committee.

9. (a) The Secretary of the Committee shall notify, in the month of November, the Societies or Sections (listed under Rule 5) through an appropriate officer and shall request each of these organizations to submit to him/her the name of one candidate residing in the United States whom they consider worthy of the Perkin Medal. Each organization may adopt its own procedures for selecting a candidate, and nominees may be re-nominated as desired.

(b) The request shall state that such names must be sent to the Secretary of the Perkin Medal Committee before December 1 and that the names must be accompanied by a statement setting forth the reasons for proposing each candidate, including a description of the work the candidate has done, and evidence as to how this work meets the criteria set forth in Rule 2(b) and shall bear no indication of their origin.

10. Members of the Perkin Medal Committee shall be uninstructed and left solely to their own individual judgment in voting.

11. (a) The Secretary of the Committee will conduct the voting process which may utilize written or electronic mail.

(b) The Secretary of the Committee, before January 15, shall send to each member of the Committee a copy of these rules and a list of all candidates and the reasons for their nominations, presenting these in the form of statement submitted by their proposers, but withholding the identification of the latter.

(c) The Secretary of the Committee shall request a letter ballot showing both “First Choice” and “Second Choice” votes. The candidate receiving a majority of the “First Choice” votes cast shall be considered nominated. In case a choice shall not have been made on the first ballot, the Secretary shall prepare a second ballot by assigning two points for each “First Choice” vote and one point for each “Second choice” vote case on the first letter ballot. The two candidates with the highest total points shall appear on the second ballot.

In the event any ballot results in a tie, the Secretary shall cast the deciding vote.

(d) The Committee may, at its discretion, require of the proposers through the Secretary that they furnish, at their own expense, additional information concerning the candidates, twelve copies to be supplied.

12. Within ten days after completing the selection, the Secretary shall notify the successful candidate of his/her nomination and shall state the requirement that he/she receive the medal in person and deliver a lecture on a subject of his/her own choosing. On acceptance of these conditions, the nomination shall automatically become an election. Until the nomination has been finalized by this action, it shall not be made public.

13. The Perkin Medal Committee shall have the power to decide any question on Committee procedures not specifically covered by these rules.

14. The members of the Perkin Medal Committee shall use their best offices to encourage, to the fullest extent, the full participation of members of their respective Societies at the award presentation, which will normally be made in the succeeding September following completion of the balloting.

15. These rules may be amended by a majority vote of the entire Committee or at a meeting of the Committee, provided that written notice of such meeting be sent to each member at least ten (10) days in advance of the meeting and provided further that a majority of the entire Committee shall vote for the amendment.

Nomination Form – Download here
Contact SCI America at sci-america@sciencehistory.org 

1. Each year, a new award recipient will be selected to recognize a significant innovation made by an industrial scientist early in his/her career.  Scientists from academia will not be considered, unless they have direct and significant involvement in commercializing an innovation.

2.  The SCI America Gordon E. Moore Medal recognizes an outstanding individual who fulfills the following criteria:

• He/She is 45 or younger in the Award year and either a U.S. citizen or resident,
• He/She has developed a breakthrough innovation.
• His/Her work illuminates emerging areas of applied chemistry in the 21st century.
• His/Her innovation significantly impacts the company’s business by creating a new market, expanding an existing market, or commercializing a breakthrough process technology.
• His/Her innovation demonstrates the positive impact of applied chemistry on the quality of life.

3. The Medal may not be received in absentia, except under conditions of grave emergency, approved by the Chairman of the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry.  As with the Perkin Medal, the SCI America Gordon E. Moore Medal recipient will receive a medal, but no other compensation.

4. The SCI America Gordon E. Moore Medal will be presented during the luncheon of a symposium, whose theme is creativity and innovation.  A Steering Committee (see section II below) will help identify candidates, screen nominations for adherence to the criteria, and select the top three nominations for final decision by the SCI America Executive Committee.

5. The schedule for the nomination and approval process is:

• Nominations solicited in October 2022
• Closing date for nominations: January 2, 2023
• Selection of 3 potential recipients by Screening Committee: by February 3, 2023
• Ratification by SCI America Executive Committee during March meeting.

This timing is driven to coincide with the planned March timing for announcing the Perkin Medal recipient.

6. This Committee will request nominations from:

• CTO Steering Committee
• Living Perkin Medalists and SCI America Gordon E. Moore Medal winners.
• The companies of SCI America members.
• American Chemistry Council (ACC).
• Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA).
• Science History Institute.

7. The Screening Committee will review those nominated and submit a list of 3 potential award recipients, with qualifications and recommendation(s), to the Chair of the SCI America Medals Committee, who will forward to the SCI America Executive Committee for selection at the March SCI America Executive Committee meeting.

8. Once selected by the SCI America Executive Committee, the CTO Screening Committee Chair will notify the successful candidate of his/her receipt of the award and confirm the requirement that he/she receive the award in person and make a speech.

9. Nominees who are not selected as award winners shall remain in consideration for three additional years as long as they meet the award requirements.

Nomination Form – Download Here
Contact SCI America at sci-america@sciencehistory.org