Celebrating Women in the Astronomical Sciences: AAS Spring/Summer 2017 Campaign
Diane Frendak American Astronomical Society (AAS)
The American Astronomical Society confers prizes to celebrate outstanding achievements and significant contributions that advance the astronomical sciences. As the centerpiece of our Spring/Summer 2017 Campaign, we acknowledge the women most closely associated with two of our awards and call on you to ensure that the AAS will be able to bestow these honors on deserving recipients well into the future.
In 1933 Annie Jump Cannon founded the Society’s first recognition program when she donated her $1,000 award from the Association to Aid Scientific Research by Women to establish an international prize to recognize research accomplishments of women astronomers. Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin received the inaugural Cannon award in 1934. By 1966 10 more exceptional women scientists had received Cannon awards, yet the endowment of the prize lagged behind other AAS prizes established later. That same year, seven Cannon prizewinners donated $1,100 to help close the gap — yet the gap persists today.
In 1985 the AAS Council approved the establishment of the Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize based on a proposal from Sandra M. Faber, who would go on to earn the Society’s highest award, the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, in 2011 (and, more recently, the Cosmology Prize from the Gruber Foundation). Mirroring Tinsley’s own achievements in cosmology, the prize celebrates research of an exceptionally creative or innovative character. S. Jocelyn Bell Burnell received the first Tinsley prize in 1986.
In 2017 we not only celebrate Cannon, Payne Gaposchkin, Tinsley, Faber, and Bell Burnell but also mark important milestones for women in the astronomical sciences. It’s been 45 years since Society members convened the group that would eventually become the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) and 25 years since the convening of “On the Status of Women in Astronomy” in Baltimore. “Women in Astronomy IV: The Many Faces of Women Astronomers” will take place 9-11 June in Austin, Texas, following the 230th AAS meeting and will focus on issues that affect a wide spectrum of women in astronomy.
Your response to this appeal will help ensure that the AAS continues to recognize deserving astronomers. Please give to the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy or Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize Fund. Donations may be made online or mailed to the Executive Office of the American Astronomical Society at the following address:
American Astronomical Society
1667 K Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006, USA
As always, we appreciate contributions to the AAS General Fund, which supports advocacy efforts, operations, and membership services, and to the AAS Initiative Endowment Fund, which will be your legacy to the astronomers of tomorrow.
Thank you for your support!