Nominate Someone (Perhaps Yourself!) for the Tinsley Prize

The Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize recognizes an outstanding research contribution to astronomy or astrophysics of an exceptionally innovative or highly creative character. The prize is normally awarded every two years. There are no restrictions on a candidate’s citizenship or country of residence. Nor is there a limitation on a candidate’s career stage or field of research within the astronomical sciences. 

The Tinsley Prize was established by the American Astronomical Society in 1986 in honor of Professor Tinsley’s highly innovative and important contributions to the mathematical modeling of galaxy evolution. As the first woman to hold a professorship in astronomy at Yale University, she was known for being an excellent teacher, a prolific researcher, and a generous colleague. Sadly, her impressive career was brought to an untimely end by melanoma in 1981.

The inaugural Tinsley Prize was bestowed on S. Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Since 1986, it has been awarded to 25 astronomers.

The Tinsley Prize includes a monetary award and a beautiful, framed certificate, both of which are presented by the AAS President at one of the two semiannual meetings of the society. Recipients also have their registration fee waived for the meeting at which the prize is presented.

In recent prize years, there have been only a small number of nominations for the Tinsley Prize. While the nominations submitted have all met the criteria and led to the selection of exemplary winners, the small number of nominations has caused concern that some of our colleagues whose research meets the criteria for this prize are not being recognized. For this reason, we invite and encourage AAS members to consider nominating a colleague or themselves for the Tinsley Prize.

Nominations require the following components: a curriculum vitae and bibliography, both limited to 2 pages in length; three abstracts of publications from refereed journals; and three letters of support. The nominee provides all the documents except the letters of support. All prize nominees are required to complete the AAS professional ethics self-disclosure form. Information on the Prize, including past winners, is on the Tinsley Prize webpage. For help with submitting a nomination see the Nomination Instructions. The deadline for submitting nominations is 30 June. Nominations will open on 10 April for all AAS prizes.