USNC-URSI Awards
In the 1980's, USNC-URSI started awarding a Booker Fellowship that is presented at the National Radio Science Meeting (NRSM) held during the year following the URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (GASS). In 2021, USNC-URSI created additional awards (Chair's Award, Distinguished Radio Science Award, Outstanding Educator Award, and Impact Award) that are presented at the NRSM held during each year of the GASS. These awards recognize colleagues for their achievements in several categories as listed at the bottom of this page.
Call For Nominations
USNC-URSI is seeking nominations from members for all of the USNC-URSI awards. Consider nominating a colleague or asking another USNC-URSI member to nominate you. Use this form to prepare your nomination. Submit nominations to both the USNC-URSI Chair (Jamesina J. Simpson) jamesina.simpson@utah.edu and USNC-URSI Awards Chair (Sembiam Rengarajan) sembiam.rengarajan@csun.edu.
The next deadline for submitting nominations will be in 2028. All nominations will be evaluated by the USNC-URSI Awards Committee, and the awards will be presented to the successful candidates during the 2029 NRSM.
Awards Description and Criteria
All are presented with a plaque / certificate and (with the exception of the Chair's Award) a monetary award.
Chair's Award
The USNC-URSI Chair's Award honors outstanding contributions to the work and mission of USNC-URSI. One candidate for this award may be nominated by the USNC-URSI Chair during each triennium.
Distinguished Radio Science Award
The USNC-URSI Distinguished Radio Science Award recognizes significant contributions to radio science made throughout an entire career.
Outstanding Educator Award
The USNC-URSI Outstanding Educator Award recognizes outstanding educational career achievement by a distinguished educator in the field of radio science. Criteria for the award include:
- Excellence in teaching
- Effective mentoring
- Curriculum development
- Authorship of course material
- Educational contributions to the profession
Impact Award
The USNC-URSI Impact Award recognizes an individual or team whose radio science work has made a positive impact on the broader society in areas including diversity, inclusion, and outreach in areas relating to radio science, as well as applications of research with societal benefit.
Booker Fellowship
During and after the 1978 URSI GASS, some friends of Professor Henry Booker established a fund to honor him on his retirement from the University of California - San Diego. They decided to use the income from the fund to support the attendance of an early career radio scientist from the United States at each URSI GASS. Thanks to their generosity, the awardee of the USNC-URSI Booker Fellowship receives a certificate and $2,000 to help offset their cost of attending the URSI GASS. In case the awardee is not able to attend the subsequent URSI GASS, he/she may use the funds to travel to the next USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting. The selection process for this award is as follows: All the early career award nominees (for the URSI Isaac Koga Gold Medal and URSI Santimay Basu Prize) are evaluated and ranked by the USNC-URSI Early Career Awards Committee. The person who is top ranked and does not receive either of the two awards (for the URSI Isaac Koga Gold Medal and URSI Santimay Basu Prize) is selected to receive the Booker Fellowship award.