SEG Awards Committee Guidelines

(Penrose Gold Medal, SEG Silver Medal, and Ralph W. Marsden Award)

Important note: On November 13, 2000, Council approved an amendment to the Guidelines for Committees that would ensure that Councilors do not nominate other active members of Council for Society awards.

Specific Responsibilities

In order to ensure at least three qualified nominees for each award, each of the nine elected Councilors may be expected to provide at least one nominee. The nine elected Councilors constitute the Awards Committee. The Chair of the committee is responsible for assuring that all nominations are available by the deadline (see below). The Chair should forward his/her report with supporting documentation to the Executive Director by August 31 of each year, who in turn will distribute copies to all other Council members for review and consideration.

Implementation

Nominations are to be made on the award nomination form. Councilors should consult as many other Society members as possible to assure that their nominee(s) have wide support. Nominations should also be sought from the membership through announcements at meetings, email broadcasts, and in the newsletter.

Selection of Nominees

This process should assure that at least three good nominees are available for each medal/award at least once every three years. Please note, when considering candidates for the SEG Silver Medal the term, "mid- career" is generally accepted to be not less than 10 years nor more than 30 years from the candidate's terminal degree. The committee reviews, evaluates and ranks the nominations for each award, and the Chair reports the committee's recommendations, in ranked order, to the Executive Director by August 31. This report is included in the SEG Council agenda book. After discussion of these rankings and any other relevant information, winners should be selected by vote of the entire Council.

Critical Dates and Deadlines

  • January/February: Committee Welcome.
  • February 28: Copy deadline for "Call for Nominations" in the newsletter.
  • March-July: Committee to receive and solicit new nominations and letters of support from SEG membership. Nominations must be submitted using the award nomination form. A minimum of (3) letters of support but no more than (5) letters are required. Each letter is limited to 1,000 words or less.
  • Carryover candidate guidelines:
    • Carryover candidates need to be re-nominated and their nomination form renewed, even if content is the same.
    • Carryover candidates can be re-nominated up to (3) times in consecutive years. This would allow the possibility of renewed nomination after a gap of one year or more and give worthy candidates a better chance of ultimately receiving a specific award since competition is typically stronger in some years than others.
    • New support letters can be solicited, but each year the nominator can only re-submit a minimum of (3) but no more than (5) support letters, including previous letters. The previous supporting letters can be resubmitted without changes with the author's consent. Each letter is limited to 1000 words or less.
  • July 15: Nominations deadline.
  • July 15-31: All nomination paperwork must be submitted to the committee via mail, fax, or email (preferred). Chair to distribute all nominations and supporting documentation to committee.
  • July 31 - August 30: Committee reviews, evaluates, and ranks the nominations for each award.
  • August 31: Chair sends final committee report with committee's recommendations, in ranked order, to the Executive Director for inclusion in the Council agenda book.

Excerpt from SEG Bylaws

ARTICLE X. HONORS

10.1 Honors. The Society may confer honors upon members of the geological profession and/or allied professions, who in the opinion of the Council have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of economic geology. Nominees for honors shall be recommended by the membership and by a committee of the Councilors (see Section 10.2) for approval by Council. The names of recipients of Society honors shall be recorded by the Executive Director and maintained as part of the historical records of the Society. Subject to change by the Council from time to time, the honors which may be awarded by the Society include:

(a) Penrose Gold Medal. The Penrose Gold Medal shall be awarded primarily in recognition of a full career in the performance of "unusually original work in the earth sciences," which shall be broadly interpreted to encompass major contributions to (a) the science through research, (b) the profession through teaching, program administration, and development of exploration technology, and (c) the development of mineral resources through mine geology, exploration, and discovery. The medal may be awarded annually, but no less frequently than once every three years. A nominee for this honor need not be a member of the Society. Nominations of candidates for this honor shall be made as provided in Section 10.2 below. The award shall consist of a gold medal and a suitably inscribed certificate presented at the Society meeting following final selection of the recipient by the Council.

(b) Society of Economic Geologists Silver Medal. The Society of Economic Geologists Silver Medal may be awarded annually, but no less frequently than once every three years, for "excellence in original work in the geology of mineral deposits," which shall be broadly interpreted to encompass outstanding contributions to (a) the geology of mineral deposits, (b) the application of the science to minerals exploration, discovery, and/or mine development, and (c) the development of exploration technology. The award will be considered primarily in recognition of excellence by or during the awardee's mid-career. A nominee for this medal need not be a member of the Society. Nominations of candidates for this honor shall be made as provided in Section 10.2 below. The award shall consist of a silver medal and a suitably inscribed certificate presented at the Society meeting following final selection of the recipient by the Council.

(c) Ralph W. Marsden Award. The Ralph W. Marsden Award may be awarded annually, but no less frequently than once every three years, primarily for "outstanding service to the Society." Criteria for this Award shall be based largely on a nominee's record of exceptional stewardship and contributions to Society affairs. The recipient must be a person living at the time the nomination is forwarded to the Council for approval. Nominations of candidates for this honor shall be made as provided in Section 10.2 below. The award shall consist of an emblematic device and a suitably inscribed certificate to be presented at the Society meeting following final selection of the recipient by the Council.

10.2 Nomination and Selection. The Council is responsible for the final selection of recipients of all of the honors and awards provided for in this Article X. The nine Councilors will form an Awards Committee responsible for nominating candidates for the awards provided for in Section 10.1(a), (b) and (c) above. This committee will be chaired by a Councilor appointed by the President in consultation with the Past President. Nominations for the awards will also be sought directly from the membership through periodic announcements in the newsletter and should be submitted to the Executive Director, who will forward them to the Awards Committee of the Council. No later than August 31 of each year, this committee shall submit two or more nominees for each award (Penrose Gold Medal, Society of Economic Geologists Silver Medal, and the Ralph W. Marsden Award) in ranked order, with supporting documentation, to the Executive Director, who shall then promptly distribute copies of the nominations to all other Council Members for review and evaluation. Final selection of the award recipients will be made by the Council at its first meeting following distribution of the nominations.

Last revision: February 2015