AV\^ARDS OF CERTIFICATES OF MERIT 



AT THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY 



MEETING 



Bernard S. Meyer 



As one feature of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding 

 of the Botanical Society of America, the Society authorized the awarding of 

 Certificates of Merit to fifty persons who were judged to have made out- 

 standing contributions in botanical science. A committee was appointed by 

 past-president Tippo in December of 1955 to handle this matter. In addition 

 to the writer, who served as chairman, the following persons were members 

 of this committee: Ronald Bamford, University of Maryland; Norman Boke, 

 University of Oklahoma; Pierre Dansereau, University of Montreal; James 

 Jensen, Iowa State College; Rogers McVaugh, University of Michigan; and 

 Donald Rogers, New York Botanical Garden. Nominations for these awards 

 were solicited not only from members of the committee itself, but also from 

 members and friends of the Society. A notice requesting the submission of 

 such nominations was published in the April issue of the Plant Science 

 Bulletin, where it was assumed that it would come generally to the attention 

 of members of the Society. Nearly two hundred persons were nominated for 

 these awards; most of the nominations were accompanied by a statement of 

 the qualifications of the nominee for such a distinction. From among these 

 nominees the fifty recipients of the awards were selected by group judgment 

 of the entire committee as expressed through a series of ballots. An appro- 

 priate citation was also prepared by members of the committee for each 

 recipient. 



The committee also had the responsibility of designing and having printed 

 a suitable certificate to be presented to each of the recipients. In this matter 

 we were greatly assisted by the advice and counsel of Savoie Lottinville of 

 the University of Oklahoma Press and James Hendrickson of William E. 

 Rudge's Sons of New York City. 



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