Hector Medal
The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal,[1] is a science award given by the Royal Society of New Zealand in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different sciences – currently there are three: chemical sciences; physical sciences; mathematical and information sciences. It is given to a researcher who "has undertaken work of great scientific or technological merit and has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the particular branch of science."[2] It was previously rotated through more fields of science – in 1918 they were: botany, chemistry, ethnology, geology, physics (including mathematics and astronomy), zoology (including animal physiology).[1] For a few years it was awarded biennially – it was not awarded in 2000, 2002 or 2004.[3]
In 1991 it was overtaken by the Rutherford Medal as the highest award given by the Royal Society of New Zealand.[4]
The obverse of the medal bears the head of James Hector and the reverse a Māori snaring a huia.[5][6] The last confirmed sighting of a living huia predates the award of the medal by three years.[7]
Recipients
Year | Recipient[8] | Field |
---|---|---|
1912 | Leonard Cockayne | Botany |
1913 | Thomas Hill Easterfield | Chemistry |
1914 | Elsdon Best | Ethnology |
1915 | Patrick Marshall | Geology |
1916 | Ernest Rutherford | Physics |
1917 | Charles Chilton | Zoology |
1918 | Thomas Frederic Cheeseman | Botany |
1919 | Philip Robertson | Chemistry |
1920 | Percy Smith | Ethnology |
1921 | Robert Speight | Geology |
1922 | Coleridge Farr | Physics |
1923 | George Hudson | Zoology |
1924 | Donald Petrie | Botany |
1925 | Bernard Aston | Chemistry |
1926 | Harry Skinner | Ethnology |
1927 | Charles Cotton | Geology |
1928 | Duncan Sommerville | Mathematics |
1929 | G. M. Thomson | Zoology |
1930 | John Holloway | Botany |
1931 | William Percival Evans | Chemistry |
1932 | Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter H. Buck) | Ethnology |
1933 | John Marwick, William Noel Benson | Geology |
1934 | Charles Ernest Weatherburn | Mathematics |
1935 | William Benham | Zoology |
1936 | Walter Oliver | Botany |
1937 | John Reader Hosking | Chemistry |
1938 | Herbert Williams | Ethnology |
1939 | John Arthur Bartrum | Geology |
1940 | Donald Bannerman Macleod | Physics |
1941 | Harold John Finlay | Zoology |
1942 | Harry Allan | Botany |
1943 | Lindsay Heathcote Briggs | Chemistry |
1944 | Johannes Carl Andersen | Ethnology |
1945 | John Henderson | Geology |
1946 | Henry Forder | Mathematics |
1947 | Arthur William Baden Powell | Zoology |
1948 | G. H. Cunningham | Botany |
1949 | Robert Anthony Robinson | Chemistry |
1950 | Ernest Beaglehole | Ethnology |
1951 | Francis John Turner | Geology |
1952 | Keith Edward Bullen | Geophysics |
1953 | Lancelot Eric Richdale | Zoology |
1954 | Lucy Cranwell | Botany |
1955 | Brian Shorland | Chemistry |
1956 | Roger Duff | Ethnology |
1957 | Harold Wellman | Geology |
1958 | Alister George McLellan | Mathematics |
1959 | Barry Fell | Zoology |
1960 | Ted Chamberlain | Botany |
1961 | Harry Bloom | Chemistry |
1962 | Ralph Piddington | Ethnology |
1963 | Charles Alexander Fleming | Geology |
1964 | Derek Frank Lawden | Mathematics |
1965 | Richard Dell | Zoology |
1966 | John Thorpe Holloway | Botany |
1967 | Richard Conrad Cambie | Chemistry |
1968 | Gilbert Edward Archey | Ethnology |
1969 | Doug Coombs | Geology |
1970 | Brian Garner Wybourne | Physics |
1971 | Ira James Cunningham | Zoology |
1972 | Ted Bollard | Botany |
1973 | Michael Philip Hartshorn | Chemistry |
1974 | Herbert Dudley Purves | Medicine |
1975 | Robert Cecil Hayes | Geology |
1976 | John Newton Dodd | Physics |
1977 | Campbell Stuart Wemyss Reid | Zoology |
1978 | Richard Ellis Ford Matthews | Botany |
1979 | Leon Francis Phillips | Chemistry |
1980 | Graham Liggins | Medicine |
1981 | Trevor Hatherton | Geology |
1982 | Roy Kerr | Mathematics |
1983 | Raymond Robert Forster | Zoology |
1984 | Rod Bieleski | Botany |
1985 | Peter Bernard David de la Mare | Chemistry |
1986 | Robin Wayne Carrell | Medicine |
1987 | Albert James Ellis | Chemistry |
1988 | Daniel Frank Walls | Physics |
1989 | Patricia Bergquist | Zoology |
1990 | Peter Wardle | Botany |
1991 | Warren R. Roper | Chemistry |
1992 | Roger Curtis Green | Ethnology |
1993 | Richard Irving Walcott | Geology |
1994 | Geoffrey Ernest Stedman | Physics |
1995 | Robert Dudley Jolly | Zoology |
1996 | John C. Butcher | Mathematics |
1997 | Edward Neill Baker | Chemistry |
1998 | Paul Callaghan, Jeffery Lewis Tallon | Physics |
1999 | George Arthur Frederick Seber | Statistics |
2000 | No award | |
2001 | Peter Schwerdtfeger | Chemistry |
2002 | No award | |
2003 | Kenneth John Dallas MacKenzie | Materials science |
2004 | No award | |
2005 | Ian H. Witten | Computer science |
2006 | Richard Furneaux | Chemistry |
2007 | Timothy Haskell | Physics |
2008 | Gaven Martin | Mathematics |
2009 | Peter Steel | Chemistry |
2010 | Grant Williams | Physics |
2011 | Rod Downey | Mathematics |
2012 | Margaret Brimble | Chemistry |
2013 | Richard Blaikie | Physics |
2014 | Marston Conder[9] | Mathematics |
2015 | Ian Brown[10] | Chemistry |
2016 | Stéphane Coen | Physics |
2017 | Sally Brooker[11] | Chemistry |
2018 | Matt Visser[12] | Mathematical physics |
2019 | Jadranka Travaš-Sejdić[13] | Polymers and nanomaterials |
See also
- Category:New Zealand scientists
- The Shorland Medal given by the New Zealand Association of Scientists
- List of chemistry awards
- List of mathematics awards
- List of physics awards
References
- "Hector Memorial Research Fund". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 50. 1918. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- "Hector Medal". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- "Background of the Medal". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- "Rutherford Medal « Medals & Awards « Funds, Medals & Competitions « Royal Society of New Zealand". Royalsociety.org.nz. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
- "Papers Past — Press — 20 December 1912 — NEWS OF THE DAY". Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1912-12-20. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
- "Design « Hector Medal « Medals & Awards « Funds, Medals & Competitions « Royal Society of New Zealand". Royalsociety.org.nz. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
- Barrie, Heather; Robertson, Hugh (2005). The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand (Revised Edition). Viking. ISBN 978-0-14-302040-0.
- "Recipients". Royal Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- "Royal Society of New Zealand recognises achievements of researchers". Royal Society of New Zealand. 26 November 2014. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
- "Spotlight on top New Zealand researchers" (Press release). Royal Society of New Zealand. 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- "2017 Hector Medal: Designing chemical computers and molecular magnets". Royal Society of New Zealand. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- "2018 Hector Medal: wormholes, black holes and other subjects of gravity". Royal Society of New Zealand. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- "2019 Hector Medal: Building bionic – biosensing, biomedicine, bioelectronics". Royal Society Te Apārangi. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.