| |
The
Norris Award is one of the oldest national awards of the American
Chemical Society and is presented annually by the Northeastern Section.
The recipient is selected from an international list of nominees
who have served with special distinction as teachers of chemistry
at any level and whose efforts have had a wide-ranging effect on
chemical education. The award has been given for a wide variety of
achievements: for outstandingly effective textbooks, lecture demonstrations,
or laboratory experiments, for editing the Journal of Chemical Education,
for developing the Chemical Educational Material Study Project, or
for new ways to teach laboratory courses in chemistry. Always, and
this is of the utmost importance, the specific achievement must be
coupled with dedicated teaching of chemistry at the graduate, undergraduate,
or high school level. The award consists of a certificate and an
honorarium.
When the will of Anne C. Norris (d. 1948) was read, the Northeastern
Section was informed that it was a beneficiary, with an outright
gift of $10,000 and
the sharing of the residue of her estate in equal parts with the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. The will stated, "It is my wish that the Directors of
said Society shall use the money in any way they may see fit to perpetuate the
memory of my said husband James F. Norris." Professor Norris had died in August,
1940, and the desire had not been satisfied for a way to honor the man who had
made such a mark as teacher, confidential counselor, research scientist and personal
friend during his years of teaching and research at Simmons College and MIT.
His widow's bequest in 1948 provided the impetus.
A committee under the leadership of Gustavus J. Esselen, the Section's senior
adviser, was set up to explore how best to use the money. The expectation was
that the income from the bequest would amount to over a thousand dollars a year,
a tidy sum, and in the April 1949 NUCLEUS Esselen requested suggestions from
the Section's members. By June he had received twelve proposals and his committee
consisting of Chester M. Alter (Boston University), Theodore C. Browne (Dewey
and Almy), Ernest C. Crocker (ADL), Kenneth L. Mark (Simmons), Avery A. Morton
(MIT) and John O. Percival (Monsanto) worked on the problem for the rest of the
year. The decision was announced in January, 1950. The statement read "The James
Flack Norris Award shall be made for outstanding achievement in the teaching
of chemistry, particularly when demonstrated at college or secondary school levels
rather than shown in research." This approach to memorialize Norris recognized
the emphasis he placed on teaching, and the Committee's fear that another award
for outstanding research would be lost in the crowd.
The announcement which appeared in the NUCLEUS for January, 1950 read:
"The first national award for outstanding achievement in the teaching of chemistry
is announced by the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc.
in memory of the late James F. Norris. Teachers from schools, colleges and universities
will be eligible. This is in accordance with the wishes of the late Anne C. Norris
of Cambridge who left the Northeastern Section a bequest of $10,000 plus half
of the residue of the estate, to be used to perpetuate the memory of her husband
James F. Norris.
Believing in the importance of excellence in teaching as a contributing factor
in the progress of chemistry, the Board of Directors of the Northeastern Section
have selected this form of award as a memorial to Professor Norris, himself a
teacher of great repute. The award will consist of a suitably inscribed certificate
and a sum of money, and will ordinarily be given biennially, in the years when
the Richards Medal for achievement in research is not awarded by the Northeastern
Section.
Professor Norris was a student of Ira Remsen, one of chemistry's greatest teachers.
(Norris) gained his outstanding reputation as a chemistry teacher at Harvard
and Clarke (sic) Universities, as Professor at Vanderbilt University and Simmons
College; and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he became Director
of the Research Laboratory of Organic Chemistry. He was Chairman of the Northeastern
Section, was twice President of the American Chemical Society and served on its
Board of Directors for eleven years."
The early recipients were chosen by a secret committee, again led by Esselen,
who remained active in promoting the memory of Norris for the next couple of
years until his death in October, 1952. Open election of the Norris Award Committee
did not begin until 1954, when it was realized also that the capital funds were
adequate to give the award annually, instead of biennially. The first presentation
was made in May, 1951 at the Harvard Club to George Shannon Forbes (an old friend
of Norris), an outstanding teacher at both Harvard and, in retirement, at Northeastern
University.
[1] The first paragraph of this account is from the Program for the James Flack
Norris Award of 2002, section: "The Award.' The remaining paragraphs are from
an article by Myron S. Simon in The NUCLEUS, 2002 LXXXI (3),4.
|
|
|
