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Hess Medal Committee
2010–2012 term
Chair
Albrecht Hofmann, Max-Planck Institute of Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Members
Yingwei Fei, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, D.C.
David Rowley, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Roberta Rudnick, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
David Walker, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York
Staff Liaisons
Beth Paredes
President of the Geodesy Section from 1950 to 1953 and the Tectonophysics Section from 1956 to 1959, Harry H. Hess made many contributions to geology, mineralogy, and geophysics. The medal named for him was established in 1984 to honor outstanding achievements in research of the constitution and evolution of Earth and sister planets. Gerald J. Wasserburg was the first recipient of the Hess Medal, which is given not more often than annually.
Harry H. Hess, who was Professor of Geology at Princeton University for more than 30 years, made major contributions to the study of the oceanic lithosphere, including the concept that convection cells in the mantle were the driving force for seafloor spreading. Hess discovered and explained the formation of flat-topped seamounts (guyots); performed seafloor gravity studies while submerged aboard U.S. Navy submarines; conducted detailed mineralogic and petrologic studies of peridotites; and was an originator of scientific ocean drilling by the Mohole Project.
Committee Charge
- Select the recipient of the Hess Medal; the final decision is subject for approval of the Executive Committee.
- Interpret the scope of the award broadly and to keep in mind that as a Union medal, it should reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the Earth and space sciences.
- Be especially mindful of the diversity of the community of individuals encompassed by AGU.
- Do not depend solely on unsolicited nominations but should be proactive by encouraging nominations through committee member contacts.
- State, as part of their recommendation to the Executive Committee, the number of candidates considered, how many of these were holdovers and how many were new, and whether the new candidates were nominations from general call or were actively encouraged by the committee.
- Define the process used for reaching the decision.
Work Plan for 2010–2012
In addition to selecting Hess Medalists,
- Review data from Hess Medal’s selection processes for the past several years to determine if the program is operating maximally in terms of the relevant goals of the Union’s strategic plan.
- Work with Section and Focus Group committees to increase the number of nominations of viable candidates in underrepresented groups so that newly elected medalists reflect the diversity of the Union membership; and
- Work with the Meetings and Honors and Recognition Committees to review formats for the award ceremonies at AGU meetings and to recommend revisions to award ceremony formats as necessary.
–July 2010