The Distinguished Service to the SSA Award
The Distinguished Service to SSA Award honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the work of the Seismological Society of America. This award is presented at the annual meeting following the year of the award.
Call for Nominations
Nomination Procedure
This award may be given to any person. Any member of SSA may nominate a candidate for this award. Nomination letters must be submitted to the Secretary of the Society on or before 15 February of each year. Please note that the principal nominator should integrate the nomination letters and send ONE nomination package to ensure that all letters of endorsement reach the decision makers on time. Questions may be directed to Lisa Grant Ludwig, chair of the SSA Honors Committee <lgrant [at] uci [dot] edu>.
Nominations for all SSA awards are solicited from the members to be sent to the SSA Secretary, by the due date of 15 February. Electronic submissions should be e-mailed in .TXT, .PDF or .DOC files to <awards [at] seismosoc.org>. While electronic submissions are encouraged, hard copies may be mailed to:
Secretary, Seismological Society of America
c/o Susan Newman
201 Plaza Professional Building
El Cerrito, California 94530
Fax: +1-510-525-7204
The Distinguished Service to the SSA Award Recipients
2008: Joe Litehiser
Joe J. Litehiser, who served as Secretary of the SSA from March 1987 to April 2007, the second longest tenure in an officer position in the organization's history, was presented with this award for Distinguished Service to the SSA at the Annual Meeting in Monterey, California in April 2009.
As Secretary, Litehiser used a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the Society's by-laws to help 14 presidents guide the Society, and often offered practical compromises during lively debates at board meetings. During his tenure as secretary, Litehiser served on the Executive Committee and on the Budget Committee. Litehiser also helped usher SSA into the Internet age while serving on the Executive Committee.
2007: Michael Fehler
Michael Fehler was selected because his contributions were "numerous and important, ranging from BSSA Editor, to SSA president, to distinguished scientist. Mike brings passion, grace, and attention to detail to his work, which shows in his many successes, and which has also been an inspiration to others." Mike took on the work of Editor of BSSA in June 1995, a position he held for more than 8 years. During that time, he expanded the pool of Associate Editors to reduce their workload and expedite their handling of manuscripts. He also recruited AE's in different disciplines to tap additional expertise and encourage submittals from a broader topical range of research. During Mike's editorship, BSSA published several special issues including Site Effects on PSHA, the 1999 Chichi Earthquake, the 1999 Izmit Earthquake, the 1999 Hector Mine Earthquake, Paleoseismology of the San Andreas Fault, and the 2002 Denali Earthquake.
2006: Wilbur (Bill) Rinehart
Bill
Rinehart was selected by the Board at the 2006 Annual Meeting to receive the
award for Distinguished Service to the SSA, in thanks for his extraordinary
efforts to document and preserve the Society's history during our Centennial
Year. Bill was honored at the luncheon of the 2007 Annual Meeting.
2003: John Ebel
John Ebel was selected by the Board at the 2003 Annual Meeting
to be the first recipient of the Distinguished Service to the SSA Award, in
thanks for his long and capable editorship of SRL from 1995, when the society
took over publication of the journal, until the end of 2001. John was honored
at the Luncheon of the 2004 Annual Meeting.