ASNSW Society Awards
Each year, usually at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), the ASNSW recognises the special efforts of Society members through the presentation of Society awards. The awards are described in more detail below.
The major awards include Life Membership and the McNiven Medal (The society's highest awards), The Southern Cross Award and The Crago Award. Other awards include the Editor's Award and the President's Award.
The awards are made at the discretion of the committee and may not be awarded if the committee feels there were no deserving members. The McNiven medal had not been awarded for quite some time until last year.
As the South Pacific Star Party represents the largest gathering of members, the committee has recently been presenting the awards at the Star Party, as well as at the Annual General Meeting.
Nominate A Member For A Society Award
Online Award Nomination Form - Submit your Nomination online automatically;
PDF Version - PDF Version - Download / Print Nomination Form;
Word Version - Word Version - Download / Print Nomination Form;
Life Membership
This award is one of the Society's highest awards and is not handed out without much deliberation to a member who has selflessly given of his/her time and efforts to the society over a number of years. These efforts have helped to enrich the society and benefit the members. This award is the only award that needs to be ratified by the members. It is therefore a very small list of members.
ASNSW life members are:
- Ted Lumley (1963);
- Cyril Brown (1979);
- Shirley Rae (1982);
- Ken Wallace (1988);
- Adrian Saw (1995);
- Max Gardner AM (1998);
- Joe Cauchi (2000)
- Don Whiteman (2000);
- Les Sara (2002);
- Harold Berman (2004);
- Janet Saw (2006);
- Eugene O'Connor (2006);
- Chris Ross (2007) (to be ratified at a Special Meeting in 2007);
McNiven Medal
In mid-1973 Mr R. J. McNiven, the then ASNSW Patron, recommended to the Committee that the Society present an annual award to specifically acknowledge a member's contribution to the ASNSW. The Committee subsequently adopted the proposal and decided to name it the McNiven Medal. The award was to be presented: “To the amateur who was had contributed significantly to the science of astronomy, or had made significant contributions to the Astronomical Society of New South Wales.”
The first medal was presented in 1973, and until 1986 this award was always presented at the October General Meeting, the traditional month of the Society’s formation. The 1996-1998 medals were presented at the South Pacific Star Party at Ilford. The McNiven Medal is the Society's most prestigious award and there have been a number of years where no-one was deemed to qualify for the award and no medal was presented (1985, 1987-1995, 1999, 2001-2003).
Recent recipients are:
- Lachlan MacDonald (2000);
- Gary and Mai Kopff (2003);
- Richard Jaworski (2007);
Southern Cross Award
This is the second highest award of the Society and is often seen as a runner-up to the McNiven Medal. It was first presented in 1980 as a meritorious award for Society contributions but is now awarded for a more general contribution to astronomy or our Society.
Recent recipients are:
- Janet Saw (2000);
- Irene Rose (2000);
- Karen England (2000);
- Mike Kerr (2001);
- Peter Docker (2001);
- Harry Roberts (2002);
- Chris Douglass (2003);
- Richard Heggie (2003);
- Lesa Moore (2004);
- Nadia Douglass (2004);
- Dave Gault (2007);
Crago Award
A prominent Society award, this is presented as an encouragement award to either to a student or full member who has shown a special interest by undertaking some activity or an organised program in amateur astronomy.
Recent recipients are:
- Lachlan MacDonald (1997);
- Jim Lissikatos (2003);
- Margaret Streamer (2005);
President’s Award
The most recent of the awards, it was introduced as an award given at the sole discretion of the President for the best contribution to the Society. It was first presented at the Annual General Meeting in 1998.
Recent recipients are:
- Greg Bryant (1998);
- Andrew James (1999);
- Mick McCullagh (2000);
- Albert Spina (2001);
- Nadia Douglass (2002);
- Grey family (2004);
- Richard Heggie (2005);
- Adrian Saw (2007);
Editor’s Award
The Editor’s Award is selected and presented by the Editor’s alone. It was introduced in 1981, and was first used to promote members articles for Universe. It is based on either the quantity or quality of submissions in the previous twelve months. The award has continued in slightly different forms, and from 1991, it has been presented at the Annual General Meeting.
Recent recipients are:
- Lesa Moore (2000);
- Allesandro Spina (2001);
- Harry Roberts (2002);
- Ted Lumley (2003);
- Richard Heggie (2004);
- Gerard Keyser (2005);
- Fred Vanderhaven (2007);
Education Officer’s Award
First presented in the 1950s as the Junior’s Award, it later evolved into the Education Officer’s Award and is given to the outstanding junior member in the Society.
Recent recipients are:
