The Lawson Medal
- First awarded at the 1969 Annual Meeting, the Lawson Medal, the
most prestigious award of the CBA/ABC, was established "to provide a
collective, formal expression of the admiration and respect of
botanists in Canada for excellence in the contribution of an
individual to Canadian botany". It is named in honour of Dr. George
Lawson, who is generally regarded as Canada's first professional
botanist. Lawson was born in 1827 in Scotland and attended the
University of Edinburgh. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University
of Giessen in Germany in 1857, and accepted an appointment as
Professor of Chemistry and Natural History at Queen's College (now
University) in Kingston, Ontario. He was instrumental in
establishing Canada's first botanical garden (1861) and the
Botanical Society of Canada, which met from 1860 until 1862. In 1863
Lawson abruptly left Queen's for Dalhousie (we do not know precisely
why). At Dalhousie he was active in the Nova Scotia Institute of
Science and was a founding fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
From 1885-1895 he was Secretary of Agriculture for Nova Scotia
(equivalent to a modern Deputy Minister). In 1891 he helped to
establish the short-lived (1891-1910) Botanical Club of Canada, and
was its President until his death in 1895.
Lawson Medals may be awarded each year in two
categories of eligibility:
- (A) Recognition of a single outstanding contribution to
botanical knowedge (monograph, book or series of papers) by a
Canadian botanist at any stage of his career, and
- (B) Recognition of cumulative, lifetime contributions to
Canadian botany by a senior researcher, teacher or administrator.
- Nominations: Terms of reference for submitting nominations are
published in the CBA/ABC Bulletin. Briefly, nominations may be in
either category and should be sent to the current President of the
Association. Nominations should include the Curriculum Vitae of the
nominee, a statement by the nominator concerning the nominee's
contribution's to Canadian Botany, and at least three supporting
letters from botanists who are familiar with the achievements of the
nominee. Nominations for the Lawson Medal to be awarded at the next
Annual Meeting, should be submitted to the President of CBA/ABC
before the end of January of the year in which the Award is to be
presented
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