The Mary Elliott Service Award is given to an individual for meritorious service to CBA/ABC. It was first awarded in 1978 in memory of Mary E. Elliott, who was a victim of homicide in September, 1976. She had just completed four consecutive years of service on the Board of Directors (as Secretary, Vice President and President), and was just beginning her term as Past President at the time of her death.
Mary Elliott was a plant pathologist and mycologist who spent 28 years with Agriculture Canada at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. She was well known for her work on the taxonomy and biology of the Sclerotiniaceae. In 1975 she became Curator of the National Mycological Herbarium. Mary was also very active in identifying fungi for the public and in contributing to and editing (1970-71) a publication of the Biosystematics Research Institute for public information called Greenhouse-Garden-Grass.
Nominations should give an account of the contributions that the nominee has made to the Association in any capacity (e.g., Board of Directors, Executive Member, Editor, Committee member, etc.), which would make the nominee a suitable candidate for receiving the Mary E. Elliott Award. Nominations should be sent to the current President of the Association before the end of January of the year in which the Award is to be presented.