ASFE's new Founders' Award is in place. Named to honor the ten individuals who created ASFE, the Award has been designed to recognize, support, and encourage professionalism in practice. Initiated by ASFE President W. Jerrold "Jerry" Samford, P.G. (Virginia Geotechnical Services, PC), the Award will be presented to those who help bring honor to their professions, through service to the community at large (local, state, regional, national, or international) as a volunteer professional. This does not at all mean that a person has to perform professional service pro bono. It means merely that the person would identify himself or herself as a professional engineer, professional geologist, environmental scientist, etc., in whatever endeavor may be involved; e.g., the pursuit of public office, the leadership of a community effort to improve living conditions, establishing a business outreach activity to enhance educational opportunities for the less privileged, and so forth.
By recognizing those who lead worthwhile activities as representatives of their professions, ASFE hopes to encourage others to take the same tack. And by chronicling Award winners' efforts, ASFE will be able to develop some marvelous "how to" information, to help others perform more effectively. By encouraging and helping to facilitate community leadership by engineers, geologists, and scientists, ASFE will be able to help those professionals - and their professions - gain more of the recognition, respect, and trust that should be their due. What is "their due"? Consider this: If Earth is habitable 300 years from now, it will be thanks to the genius of the individuals who comprise the technical leadership of ASFE Member Firms and firms like them.
That so few people seem to understand and appreciate the importance of engineers, geologists, and scientists can be attributed in large part to the self-effacing nature of the individuals involved, and their failure to associate themselves with their professions when they function in the community. The ASFE Founders' Award will be an important step in the right direction, by helping to spur public demand for engineers, geologists, and scientists to assume community leadership positions, not despite their professional pursuits, but because of them. Unquestionably, a significant distance exists between there and here, but the journey of a thousand miles….
The initial recipient of the new ASFE Founders' Award will be identified during the Annual Banquet of our upcoming Spring (Annual) Meeting, in Savannah, Georgia, Saturday, April 6, 2002. The initial recipient, like those coming after, will be an individual who has:
| consistently demonstrated personal integrity and honesty in practice; |
| earned the trust of clients, peers, and the public; |
| shown leadership in a very public way; |
| served in an unselfish capacity as a mentor; and |
| displayed a true passion for excellence. |
To be eligible to win the new award, a nominee must be a licensed or certified professional who is a principal or employee of a Member Firm, or is a member of the Council of Fellows or an Individual Life Member retiree who is still active. Nominations may be made only by Member Firms. The nominee does not have to be affiliated with the nominating firm.
Six copies of the nomination package should be submitted to the Founders' Award Selection Committee, c/o the ASFE office. All packages should be identical and comprise:
| a 500- to 750-word essay explaining why the individual should be recognized; |
| a description and explanation (1250-word maximum) of recent activities that have set the nominee apart (e.g., leadership of a significant community issue or election to public office) pursued within the context of or with recognition of the individual's professional status, thus to generate more understanding of and positive reaction to the profession and its practitioners; |
| a biography (500-word maximum); and |
| a signed release, giving ASFE permission to use all the information provided. |
The Founders' Award Selection Committee comprises the Immediate Past President of ASFE (one-year term) and one representative from each of the following:
| Membership and Marketing Committee (three-year term; Chair is default); |
| Business and Professional Practice Committee (three-year term; Chair is default); |
| Council of Fellows (two-year term; Chair is default); and |
| Board of Directors (two-year term; President is default). |
The nomination packages become the property of ASFE; none will be returned. ASFE will retain for future consideration the packages of those who do not win, but doing so would not preclude the same individual from being formally renominated, with the newly submitted package containing updated information.
We will do our best to have the winner present in April; more formal activities will occur six months later, at the Fall Meeting. There, the Founders' Award recipient will make a special presentation whose focus will be developed by the Award recipient and the Program Committee. ASFE will waive the registration fee for the recipient and the recipient's spouse/guest.
The Award itself will take several forms. One will comprise a unique physical representation, such as a sculpture or plaque.
Another important form of the Award will be a case history-type presentation that we will display at the ASFE website until the next Award winner's is ready for posting. We will retain prior winners' case histories; they will be retrievable with a click. We will do our best to promote the Award winner at various levels: among the membership, among the memberships of other organizations, among students and faculty, and, of course, among the general public.
Do you have questions? If so, direct them to ASFE Executive Vice President John Bachner (tel. 301/565-2733; e-mail john@asfe.org ).
Reminder: The submission deadline is February 11, 2002.
[ASFE Home Page] [ASFE
Founders' Award Info]
[Barry K. Thacker, PE, First Founders' Award Recipient]
[Barry K. Thacker Nomination Package]
[Thacker's Presentation to ASFE at Fall 2001 Meeting]]