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. Click on the following links to see awards described in more detail below (with list of recipients).

The awards are made at the discretion of the committee and may not be awarded if the committee feels there were no deserving members. Nominations for awards may be made by members at any time by contacting the Committee.

This award is the Society's highest award and is not handed out without much deliberation. Life Membership is granted 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 needs to be ratified by the Members at a Special General Meeting.

ASNSW life members are:

  • Ken Beames* (pre-1964)
  • Ted Lumley* (1963)
  • Cyril Brown* (1979)
  • Shirley Rae* (1982)
  • Ken Wallace (1988)
  • Adrian Saw (1995)
  • Max Gardner* AM (1998)
  • Joe Cauchi, Don Whiteman (2000)
  • Les Sara (2002)
  • Harold Berman* (2004)
  • Janet Saw*, Eugene O'Connor* (2006)
  • Chris Ross (2007)
  • Scott Mellish* (2008)
  • Lesa Moore, Mick McCullagh (2009)
  • John Flavin (2011)
  • Richard Jaworski (2016)
  • Paul Hatchman (2021)

* Indicates member is deceased.

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 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. After Life Membership, the McNiven Medal is the Society's most prestigious award.

Recipients include:

  • Edward Lumley* (1973)
  • Kevin Cooper* (1974)
  • John Gardiner* (1975)
  • Alan Yates* (1976)
  • Ken Wallace* (1977)
  • Cyril Brown* (1978)
  • David Crump* (1979)
  • Chris Kimpton* (1980)
  • Andrew James* (1981)
  • Ken Wallace* (1982)
  • Glenn Dawes*, Nick Loveday* (1983)
  • Robert Price* (1984)
  • Edward Lumley* (1986)
  • Rev. Robert Evans* (1996)
  • Robert McNaught* (1997)
  • Gordon Garradd* (1998)
  • Lachlan MacDonald (2000)
  • Gary Kopff and Mai Tran (2003)
  • Richard Jaworski (2007)
  • Ken Wallace, Glenn Dawes, Peter Northfield (2009)
  • Greg Bryant (2010)
  • Harry Roberts (2012)
  • Lesa Moore (2013)
  • Mark Suchting (2019)

* An article about the McNiven Medal by Andrew James is available here: The McNiven Medal. It includes information about all recipients shown * and includes details of their contributions to the ASNSW.

The Southern Cross Award was first presented in 1980 as a meritorious award for Society contributions, but is now awarded for a more general contribution to astronomy or the ASNSW.

Recent recipients:

  • Janet Saw, Irene Rose, Karen England (2000)
  • Mike Kerr, Peter Docker (2001)
  • Harry Roberts (2002)
  • Chris Douglass, Richard Heggie (2003)
  • Lesa Moore, Nadia Douglass (2004)
  • Ben Pawlutschenko, Scott Mellish (2006)
  • Dave Gault (2007)
  • John O'Brien, Monte Wilson (2008)
  • Rita Holland, Alex Comino (2009)
  • John Flavin (2010)
  • Karen Whittingham, Ian Ogilvie (2011)
  • Greg Priestley (2013)
  • Carlos Orue (2014)
  • Geoff Smith (2017)
  • Peter Moore (2018)
  • Michelle Elliott (2019)
  • Mark Notary (2020)
  • Neville Lupton and Mark Notary (2023)

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:

  • Lachlan MacDonald (1997)
  • Jim Lissikatos (2003)
  • Margaret Streamer (2005)
  • Phil Montgomery (2006)
  • Geoff Unsworth (2008)
  • Darren Jones, Ian Parr (2009)
  • Mike Berthon-Jones, Barry Gerdes (2010)
  • Linda Heffer, Neville Lupton (2011)
  • John Heller (2012)
  • Warren Neal, Greg Priestley (2017)
  • Trevor Oates (2018)
  • Jessica Brunton (2019)
  • Jacob Grossbard (2021)

The President's Award was introduced as an award given at the sole discretion of the President for a valuable contribution to the Society. It was first presented at the Annual General Meeting in 1998.

Recipients:

  • Greg Bryant (1998)
  • Andrew James (1999)
  • Mick McCullagh (2000)
  • Albert Spina (2001)
  • Nadia Douglass (2002)
  • Grey family (2004)
  • Richard Heggie (2005)
  • Chris Douglass (2006)
  • Adrian Saw (2007)
  • Greg Priestley (2008)
  • Linda Heffer (2010)
  • Michelle Elliot (2011)
  • Lesa Moore (2012)
  • Rozainah Kendrew (2013)
  • Joe Cauchi (2014)
  • Lesa Moore (2015)
  • Joe Cauchi (2016)
  • Greg Neilson (2017)
  • Peter and Lesa Moore (2022)
  • Young Su Cho (2023)

The Editor’s Award is selected and presented by the Editor, or Editing Team. 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.

Recent recipients:

  • Lesa Moore (2000)
  • Allesandro Spina (2001)
  • Harry Roberts (2002)
  • Ted Lumley (2003)
  • Richard Heggie (2004)
  • Gerard Keyser (2005)
  • Scott Mellish (2006)
  • Fred Vanderhaven (2007)
  • Scott Mellish (2008)
  • Alan Garner (2009)
  • Andrew James (2012)
  • Harry Roberts (2013)
  • Anwesha Sahu (2014)
  • Anwesha Sahu (2015)
  • Geoff Smith (2016)
  • Jacob Grossbard (2017)
  • Kym Haines, Ian Kemp (2020)
  • Geoff Smith (2021)
  • Greg McCall (2022)
  • Chris Douglass (2023)

First presented in the 1950s as the Junior’s Award (given to the outstanding junior member in the Society), it later evolved into the Education Officer’s Award. Recent recipients have contributed to education and public outreach in astronomy through their ASNSW activities.

Recent recipients:

  • Don Whiteman (1998)
  • Lesa Moore (2008)
  • Monte Wilson (2009)
  • Donna Burton (2012)

This award was instigated in 2009 in memory of past president, Mike Kerr, who contributed greatly to the success of the ASNSW.

Recent recipients:

  • Harry Roberts (2009)
  • Scott Mellish (2010)
  • Richard Jaworski (2011)
  • Julian Oey (2022)

If you feel that a Member of the ASNSW is deserving of an award, please review the above headings to see which award might be suitable. Then, contact the ASNSW Committee (email committee(at)asnsw.com) stating:

  • the name of the person you are nominating;
  • which award you think they should receive;
  • why you think they deserve this award; and
  • your full name and Membership Number.