In 1970, the members of SEEMS wanted to select a name for our student award. They wanted to give the award a name that would be significant to both physical and biological electron microscopists. Dr. Roth suggested that they name the award the Ernst Ruska Award; he was asked to write to Ernst Ruska to get his permission to name the award after him. Mr. Ruska wrote back, in German of course. Since Dr. Roth's German vocabulary is limited to "gesundheit", he asked a friend to translate the letter for him. In Mr. Ruska's letter, he suggested that the society name the award after him and his brother, Helmut, who was a biologist. Dr. Roth wrote back and thanked the Ruska brothers for permitting the society to use their name. When the time came to actually name the award, it was decided to name it the Ruska AWARD rather than the Ruska Brothers or the Ernst and Helmut Ruska Award due to the fact that the latter two or too cumbersome. They had planned to make the first award at our December meeting in 1971 which was scheduled to be held at Georgia Tech. That meeting was canceled due to a "heavy snow" that greatly limited the attendance at that meeting. Thus the first Ruska Award was made to Danny Akin in 1972. After making the first award, the society sent each of the Ruska brothers a plaque similar to the ones awarded to the students.

Everyone says how slow in progress the South is; however, it should be noted that our SEEMS Society gave the first Ruska Award in Ernst's honor 17 years before EMSA recognized him and 18 years before the Nobel Prize Committee recognized him. So much for the South being behind the times.

1. Applicants must be or have been an undergraduate or graduate student during the Academic year of the meeting and should have less than five years experience in electron microscopy.

2. Each applicant must be sponsored and validated by a signed statement from a non-student SEMS member verifying item #1.

3. The work must consist of original research authored by the participant but may be co-authored by his/her advisor. It is highly recommended that advisors consult with their students regularly on their project. The written portion (not to exceed two pages single-spaced including references) should also contain a research summary. Additional pages may be used for micrographs and legends. The MSA Presidential Award format may be used.

4. Six copies of the summary should be submitted to the RUSKA Award Chairman including original figures (tables, graphs, and micrographs) which will be shown during the oral presentation. The summary should include the following:

• a) title
• b) author and affiliation
• c) sponsor
• d) summary of research- include a brief introduction, brief methods and materials, results, and a brief discussion
• e) figures and legends

5. An abstract clearly labeled RUSKA AWARD PARTICIPANT should be submitted to the Program Chairman for publication with the meeting proceedings.

The research summary and oral presentation will be evaluated by the RUSKA Committee using the criteria outlined below:

I. Submitted Text

• 1. Soundness of research proposal
• 2. Experimental design and thoroughness of investigation
• 3. Validation of conclusions
• 4. Application of EM as a tool in answering an experimental question

• 1. Presentation of the specimen (fixation, staining . . . etc)
• 2. Instrumentation
• 3. Photographic quality (neatness, density, contrast)

• 1. Organization
• 2. Clarity
• 3. Grammatical correctness

• A. Clarity and Organization
• B. Communication Skills
• C. Quality of Slides
• D. Response to Audience Questions
• E. Observance of presentation time limits

III. Originality and the use of correlated techniques are encouraged.

• Biological Sciences

• 1972 - Danny Akin, Univ. of Georgia
• 1973 - John Wolosewick, Univ. of Georgia
• 1974 - Murray Baks,t Univ. of Georgia
• 1975 - William Henk, Univ. of Georgia
• 1976 - Durland Fish, Univ. of Florida
• 1978 - Dwayne Findley, N. Carolina State
• 1979 - Glen Watkins, N. Carolina State
• 1979 - John Weldon, Univ. of Georgia
• 1980 - Michael Dresser, Duke Univ.
• 1982 - Mark Rigler, Univ. of Georgia
• 1982 - Chris Sunderman, Univ. of Georgia
• 1983 - Patricia Jansma, Univ. of Georgia
• 1985 - Mark Brown, Univ. of Georgia
• 1986 - Judy King, E. Tennessee State Univ.
• 1986 - Peter Smith, Clemson Univ.
• 1987 - Robert Roberson, Univ. of Georgia
• 1988 - Rajendra Chaubal, Univ. of Georgia
• 1989 - Josephine Taylor, Univ. of Georgia
• 1990 - Chi-Guang Wu, Univ. of Florida
• 1991 - Karen Snetselaar, Univ. of Georgia
• 1992 - Yun-Tao Ma, Clemson Univ.
• 1992 - Theresa Singer, Univ. of Georgia
• 1993 - Julia Kerrigan, Univ. of Georgia
• 1994 - John Shields, Univ. of Georgia
• 1994 - Meral Keskintepe, Univ. of Georgia
• 1995 - Katalin Enkerli, Univ. of Georgia
• 1996 - Rhonda C. Vann, Mississippi State
• 1998 - Timothy Wakefield, Univ. of Georgia
• 1999 - Wendy Riggs, Univ. of Georgia
• 2000 - Gail J. Celio, Univ. of Georgia
• 2001 - Joanne Maki, Univ. of Georgia
• 2002 - Rocio Rivera, Univ. of Florida
• 2003 - Patrick JP Brown, Univ. of Georgia
• 2003 - Heather Evans, Univ. of South Carolina
• 2004 - none
• 2005 - Janet Donaldson, Mississippi State Univ.
• 2006 - Sangmi Lee, Mississippi State Univ.
• 2007 - Jennifer Seltzer, Mississippi State Univ.
• 2008 - Katherine Mills-Lujan, Univ. of Georgia

• Physical/Material Sciences
  

• 1981 - Michael Short, W. Georgia College
• 1989 - Graham Piper, Clemson Univ.
• 1992 - Kerry Robinson, Clemson Univ.
• 1997 - K.J. Aryana, Mississippi State
• 2007 - Tau Wu, Univ. of Georgia

Introduction: Established in 1994 by the Southeastern Electron Microscopy Society, (now The Southeastern Microscopy Society (SEMS)) as a tribute to the memory of one of the Society's most beloved and distinguished members, Dr. Jerome J. Paulin, the fund enables eminent scholars from SEMS to visit and deliver lectures on current topics in microscopy to regional institutions. Jerry Paulin believed very strongly in the need to educate the youth of America, and he held a special appreciation for the field of electron microscopy and the importance it continues to play in research. Each year two to three SEMS members would volunteer to travel to academic institutions throughout the southeastern United States and present seminars that deal with some aspect of microscopy and how it impacts on today's science. Any private or public institution of higher learning may apply to the Directors of the fund and request funds to cover the costs associated with having a SEMS speaker visit their institution.

Concept: As Jerome J. Paulin was a firm believer in the need to provide students with a better idea of the value of microscopy, it would seem likely that he would approve of a fund that would allow SEMS scientists to travel throughout the southeastern United States to "spread the word'' to institutions and students who might not otherwise be able to afford the cost of hosting such speakers. Each year two to three prominent SEMS members will be asked by the Directors of the fund to volunteer their services in support of this effort. While an honorarium may be offered by the sponsoring institution it is understood by the SEMS lecturers that funds for such an honorarium are not to come from the Memorial fund and that the volunteering of their time is to be viewed as a contribution to SEMS and to the memory of Jerry Paulin. Participation will allow one to not only spread the word of microscopy but also to improve the profile of SEMS as a society.

Funding: The fund is to be established by a one time "seed" grant of $1000 from the general treasury of SEMS with additional funds coming from private donations. The investment of these funds is to be carried out by the SEMS investment director and these funds are to be clearly earmarked and kept separate from other SEMS accounts. Each year the interest monies generated by the fund will be used to pay for the costs associated with the visiting lectureships. Expenses such as meals, housing and travel are deemed to be appropriate but are subject to approval by the Directors of the fund.

Administration: The fund is to be administered by at least three members of SEMS, at least one of which is to be a member of the SEMS Executive Council. A Director of the fund (whose tenure may he renewed on an annual basis) will be appointed by the President of SEMS. Sponsoring institutions will apply to the Directors of the fund for the monies to bring in one of that year's designated speakers. A detailed estimate of the costs will be provided at the time of the application. Following approval of the application the Director will contact that year's volunteer lecturers and attempt to arrange for one of them to visit with the sponsoring institution. If a suitable scheduling cannot be arranged the Directors are to notify the sponsoring institution immediately. Announcements of the Visiting Lectureships are to be made through regular SEMS publications and by other means. A mailing of announcements of the fund may be made to the appropriate academic officials of institutions throughout the southeast. The cost of these mailings are to be borne by monies from the fund and not from the general SEMS treasury.