Honorary Members: A person of outstanding repute and eminence in the science of audio engineering or its allied arts. The endorsement of 10 members is required. This award grants this individual the full rights and privileges of the Society. Candidates are not necessarily members of the Society.
Fellows: A member who has rendered conspicuous service or is recognized to have made a valuable contribution to the advancement in or dissemination of knowledge of audio engineering or in the promotion of its application in practice. The endorsement of five members is required. Candidates must be current members in good standing and have been members in good standing for a total of at least five years in the past.
The Gold Medal Award was established by the Society in 1971 and is given in recognition of outstanding achievements, sustained over a period of years in the field of audio engineering. It was formerly known as the John H. Potts Memorial Award. This is the highest technical achievement award in the Society. Candidates must be current members in good standing, have been members in good standing for a total of at least 10 years in the past, and possess a fellowship in the Society.
The Distinguished Service Award was established by the Society in 1991 and is given in recognition of extraordinary service to the Society over a period of years (10 years or more). It was formerly known as the Vermeil Medal Award. This is the highest service achievement award in the Society. Candidates must be current members in good standing, have been members in good standing for a total of at least five years in the past, and possess a fellowship in the Society.
The Silver Medal Award was established by the Society in 1971 and is given in recognition of an outstanding development or achievement in the field of audio engineering. It was formerly known as the Emile Berliner Award. Candidates must be current members in good standing, have been members in good standing for a total of at least five years in the past, and possess a fellowship in the Society.
The Bronze Medal Award was established by the Society in 1971 and is given in recognition of service in the advancement of the Society. It was formerly known as the Audio Engineering Society Medal Award. Candidates must be current members in good standing, have been members in good standing for a total of at least five years in the past, and possess a Fellowship in the Society.
The Board of Governors Award may be given to the following:
1. the Chairs of all International AES Conventions and Conferences;
2. the Chairs of Regional Conventions or Conferences;
3. any member rendering exceptional service to the Society
All Board of Governors Awards (whichever above category) must be initiated via the Call for Awards or by a specific nomination from the appropriate Regional Vice President and confirmed by the Chair of the Regions and Sections Committee. This nomination is then referred to the Awards Committee for evaluation and confirmation prior to submission to the Board of Governors for approval.
Per previous recommendation from the Board of Governors, the Chair of the Conference Policy Committee should inform the appropriate Regional Vice President of any persons deserving of this Award for having chaired a regional conference.
Candidates must be members in good standing.
Citations are given in recognition of services or accomplishments which do not fit into any of the above categories.
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Additional relevant Sections from the Blue Book:
Society awards are presented on the basis of merit. It should not be implied or inferred that any award must be granted during a given year.
All proposals for awards shall be in writing by members. Proposals shall include: the submitter’s name, contact information, and AES membership number; candidate’s name, AES membership number, and professional biography; and a detailed statement to justify making the award, including a proposal for the text of the award citation. Additional supporting documentation also is recommended.
Except for the Honorary Membership and Citation, awards shall be granted only to members in good standing. Exceptionally, an award may be made to an employee of the AES. Anyone proposing an award for an employee must first obtain written endorsement of the Executive Director and provide this together with their proposal.
The Awards Committee does not have responsibility for the AES Publications Award (see below).
The Review Board shall recommend candidates for the Publications Award.
The Publications Award Committee, consisting of the Editor as chair and selected members of the Review Board of the Journal, is the determining body to select the candidate for the award.
Guidelines for the Publications Award Committee:
a) Two Publications Awards will be offered in alternate years, each based on the papers published in the two preceding volumes of the Journal.
b) Publications Award No. 1 is to be given only to an author or to coauthors under 35 years of age. A paper cannot be considered for this award if any coauthor is over the age limit. This award meets the donor's primary desire to stimulate publication by younger workers.
c) The age of authors considered for Award No. 1 is to be determined as of the date that the manuscript (if it is not a preprint) is first received in the publications office, and if it is a preprint, as of the date the author(s) has indicated in writing that it is released for publication in the Journal.
d) Publications Award No. 2 is to be made solely on the merit and quality of the published work, without regard to age of the author(s). However, if Award No. 1 had been made for a particular paper, this same paper cannot subsequently be considered for Award No. 2, and vice versa.
e) The Award will be monetary, with certificate(s). The monetary award will be divided equally among coauthors; each author is to receive a certificate.
f) The Awards are to be presented at one of the Society's major meetings, with the site being chosen to suit the recipient's convenience and desire. Awards may be presented in absentia at the meeting when a recipient is prevented from being present. Tickets for the recipient and guest to attend the Awards Ceremony are to be paid for by funds from the Society. Other travel and hotel expenses are the recipient's responsibility.
g) The name of the award regardless of which year it is given is “The AES Publications Award.”
The members of the Publications Award Committee shall be chosen in such a way that their working knowledge covers the major fields of interest to the Audio Engineering Society; for example, architectural acoustics, sound reinforcement, disk and magnetic recording, transducers, music, psychoacoustics, digital audio, etc.
The Review Board shall be guided by the following criteria in making recommendations to the Publications Award Committee, who will decide on recipients of the Publications Award.
a) On the basis of subject:
Is the subject timely?
Is the subject important?
Is this a definitive paper on the subject?
b) On the basis of presentation:
Is this a clear presentation of the subject?
Is the material well organized?
Is the paper complete? (Problem statement, work done, conclusions, bibliography.)
Are the illustrations adequate as to selection and as to legend?
Is the paper “readable”?
Based on affirmative answers to the above criteria, members of the Review Board may recommend that the author of the paper shall be considered as a candidate for the Publications Award of the Society.
Above info was excerpted from the AES Blue Book.
