The Monie A. Ferst Award
April 15 is the nomination deadline for Sigma Xi’s Monie A. Ferst Award which, since 1977, has honored science and engineering teachers who have inspired their students to significant research achievements.
This national award is sponsored by the Georgia Institute of Technology Chapter of Sigma Xi and recognizes those who have made "notable contributions to the motivation and encouragement of research through education." The award consists of a medal and $10,000. An appealing feature is its presentation during a day-long symposium focusing on the achievements of the winner's former students.
The Monie A. Ferst Award recipient is selected by a committee made up of Sigma Xi's Southeast Regional Director, a Ferst family member, the current president and immediate-past president of the Georgia Tech Chapter, plus several members-at-large, including previous Ferst Award recipients, based on the nominees' areas of expertise.
The nomination package should be submitted electronically to Dr. Zhuomin Zhang of the Georgia Institute of Technology at zhuomin.zhang@me.gatech.edu (404-385-4225) and must include the following:
- A nomination letter summarizing the candidate's noteworthy accomplishments (2 pages).
- The candidate's resume.
- Five letters of endorsement, at least three of which should come from the candidate's former students or post-docs.
For the 2025 award, please send the nomination via e-mail by April 15, 2025.
Monie A. Ferst
The award is named for an outstanding engineer and businessman, who received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1911. While a student, Ferst became interested in scientific research conducted in an educational setting. In 1933, he and two other influential Georgians used their own funds to establish the Georgia Tech Research Institute, to make it possible for faculty members to conduct research, in addition to teaching. Ferst's belief that it is necessary for professors to conduct scientific research in order to stay abreast of their fields and to generate enthusiasm in the classroom also led him to provide funding—during his lifetime and in perpetuity through the Ferst Foundation of Atlanta—for Sigma Xi research awards at Georgia Tech. As the culmination of his life-long concern, his family and the Ferst Foundation established in 1975 a $100,000 trust fund to provide income for the Georgia Tech Chapter of Sigma Xi to carry on the recognition of noteworthy contributions both locally, as before, and nationally through the Monie A. Ferst Medal and the accompanying $10,000 prize.
Monie A. Ferst Award Recipients
1992 Fred Basolo
1991 Manuel Blum
1990 Fred Rapp
1989 John W. Tukey
1988 Nick Holonyak, Jr.
1987 Gilbert Stork
1986 Julian Schwinger
1985 Norman F. Ramsey
1984 Richard J. Duffin
1983 John C. Bailar, Jr.
1982 Nicholas J. Hoff
1981 John A. Wheeler
1980 Ernest C. Pollard
1979 Richard L. Solomon
1978 H.W. Liepmann
1977 E. Bright Wilson
Send e-mail for more information on these awards and prizes.