By Cicely Enright

Jul 26, 2016

The ASTM Honors and Awards Program

You make the difference, and ASTM International appreciates it.

The expertise of ASTM's members finds its expression in standards used around the world and in peer-reviewed papers and publications covering the latest in technical information. ASTM and technical committee colleagues appreciate these contributions, and the society's honors and awards program is one way of expressing this gratitude and respect.

The awards program helps to recognize and encourage members, increase a sense of community among members and highlight the importance of their work to industry. Eric R. Boes, corporate quality engineer for Delta Faucet Co., Indianapolis, Ind., an ASTM member since 1991 and current chairman of Committee B05 on Copper and Copper Products, puts it this way: "The feeling that the contributions are valued and valuable helps build on the culture of sincere effort and hard work that many members put into their ASTM work."

Perhaps the heart of ASTM International's awards is the Award of Merit and accompanying title of fellow, ASTM's highest recognition for individual contributions to standards activities. Nominations, due Nov. 1 every year, describe individuals' outstanding leadership over a period of time, work on new standards and their development, and/or research and publication of papers. The process begins in the spring with reminders that go to awards chairmen to consider possible nominees for this honor. The Award of Merit nominations are reviewed and voted on by an Award of Merit committee, and honors are often given during committee meetings.

Boes, himself an ASTM fellow and Award of Merit recipient, says that awards can have a positive effect. "There is a great deal of satisfaction in simply contributing to the work of the committee and its standards. Receiving an award provides a sense that others recognize what I do and feel that it is significant," he says.

Other society awards apply more broadly than individual committees for such honors as the Walter C. Voss Award, which is given for contributions to building technology, and the W.T. Cavanaugh Memorial Award, which singles out leaders in the standards world and commemorates the ASTM president who established the organization as the world leader in the development and dissemination of standards during his tenure as ASTM's CEO from 1970 to 1985.

ASTM awards also include society-recognized awards from individual committees. Such awards, approved by the ASTM International board of directors, follow an established process and often carry the name of an authority in a particular industry sector or technical committee area. At its April 2013 meeting, the ASTM board approved three new honors: the Dieter-Hesterman Award of Committee E53 on Asset Management, the Harry Farrar IV Award of Committee E61 on Radiation Processing and the Laurence R. "Nuke" Newcome Award of Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. If you would like to consider embarking on the process of establishing such an award in your committee, a proposal can be prepared based on the template available from Maryann Zamorski, ASTM honors and awards coordinator (phone: 610-832-9684).

At the technical committee and subcommittee levels, ASTM committees honor members with Awards of Excellence and Awards of Appreciation for a job well done: someone who has been chairman of a symposium or overseen the development of a standard or standards from start to finish, who has been instrumental in the committee's makeup or strategic planning.

ASTM awards provide an opportunity to show tangible appreciation for ASTM work. "ASTM awards show what its members can do, the great people who work for many years to advance their field as well as ASTM's," Boes says. "These recipients provide a great example for all of us to follow in the way in which they have gone above and beyond their responsibilities, taken on many tasks, large and small, and made great contributions to ASTM."

For more information about ASTM honors and awards, contact Maryann Zamorski or your staff manager.

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