The Paul F. Robertson Award for the EMS Breakthrough of the Year was created in 2012 with support from a generous gift by EMS alumnus Paul F. Robertson. The recipient shall be honored with a recognition memento and a monetary award at the Wilson Awards Banquet held each spring.
Focus
In EMS, the Wilson Awards for Excellence in Research and Teaching are given annually to faculty members in the college who have built an identifiable body of outstanding research and teaching over a period of years. Previously there were no awards given for singular research or teaching achievements communicated in one or a small series of articles, reports, or presentations and this award was created for that purpose. Although the award emphasizes research or teaching achievements over the previous twelve months, qualifying materials (e.g., journal articles, reports, conference presentations) may come from the previous twenty-four months to allow for recognition of the work by the broader scientific community. Qualifying breakthroughs may be in research or in the scholarship of teaching.
Eligibility
Members of the college faculty, as defined by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' Constitution, whose primary appointment is in EMS are eligible. A majority of the work being acknowledged must have occurred while the nominee was appointed in EMS. Exceptions to these criteria are made only with the approval of the dean.
Selection Procedure
Nominations are solicited from departments, institutes, and other subunits where faculty reside (e.g., the Ryan Family Student Center). Department heads, institute directors, and other subunit leads are able to provide new nominations or request reconsideration of last year’s nominees. A selection committee, comprising the deans of the college, reviews and discusses the nominations and selects the recipient in each category. Deans who make a nomination will be excused from the committee for the cycle(s) in which their nomination is being discussed.
Nomination Procedure
Annually in September, the dean will invite nominations for the Paul F. Robertson Award for Research Breakthrough of the Year. Reminders are sent in October.
Each department and institute may submit one nomination, submitted by the head or director directly to the InfoReady link provided in the call for nominations. Additional sub-unit head nominations may be considered with prior approval from the dean. The nomination packet should include:
- An introductory letter consisting of a short summary (150 words or fewer) describing, to a lay audience, the significance of the work in its field. The letter should be accompanied by up to three reprints and/or documentation that provides evidence of the impact of the work.
- Up to three supporting letters from colleagues familiar with the nominee's work (at least one letter should be from a distinguished colleague outside of Penn State).
- The nominee's current curriculum vitae
- A recent high-resolution color photograph of the nominee, suitable for the awards program, in jpeg format
The nomination materials may be submitted no later than November 15.
Formation of Earth's continents
In a recent paper published in Geochemical Perspectives Letters, titled ‘A whole- lithosphere view of continental growth,’ Dr. Reimink and his collaborators suggest that continents began growing between 2.5 and 3 billion years ago and that the growth happened later and more gradual than previously thought.
Current Recipients
- Jesse Reimink, assistant professor of geosciences
Past Recipients
- 2024: Jesse Reimink, assistant professor of geosciences
- 2023: Seth Blumsack, professor of energy policy and economics, and Mort Webster, professor of energy engineering
- 2022: William Brune, distinguished professorof meteorology, David Miller, assistant research professor in meteorology and atmospheric science, Patrick McFarland, Meteo IUG program, and Jena Jenkins, graduate student in meteorology and atmospheric science
- 2021: Long-Qing Chen, professor of materials science and engineering
- 2020: John Mauro, professor of materials science and engineering
- 2019: Klaus Keller, professor of geosciences
- 2018: Roman Engel-Herbert, associate professor of materials science and engineering
- 2017: Clive Randall, Director, Materials Research Institute; professor of materials science and engineering
- 2016: Peter Wilf, professor of geosciences
- 2015: David Pollard, senior scientist, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute
- 2014: Chris Marone, Demian Saffer, and Don Fisher, all professors in the Department of Geosciences
- 2013: James H. Adair, professor of materials science and engineering
- 2012: Paul C. Painter, professor of polymer science, and Fuqing Zhang, professor of meteorology
