communication department

Volume XX Number 1

Honors and Awards

Recommend Candidates for Honorary Fellow

The Society for Technical Communication established the rank of Honorary Fellow to recognize persons who are not members of the Society but who have achieved eminence in the field of technical communication. The Honorary Fellow for 2007 is Simon Singh—author, journalist, and television producer. (For more information on Singh, please see the November 2006 issues of Tieline and Intercom.)

The Honorary Fellows Nominating Committee asks for your help in identifying candidates for Honorary Fellow. Please read the criteria and procedures below and send your recommendation to the postal or e-mail addresses at the end of this article.

The committee assesses each candidate based on the following criteria:

1. Public and professional reputation. The candidate should have wide recognition among STC membership and the educated public.
2. Level of contribution to the advancement of technical communication.
3. Professional activity in other fields, such as natural, social, or physical sciences; journalism; engineering; or information technology.
4. Number of years of experience in the field (at least ten years).
5. Professional qualifications: technical, scientific, managerial, academic, or other.
6. Caliber of publications.
7. Exceptional activities that have benefited the field of technical communication.

Procedures

Only the STC Honorary Fellows Nominating Committee can nominate an individual for the rank of Honorary Fellow. While application for this rank is not permitted, the committee welcomes recommendations from any member of the Society. To recommend a candidate, send the committee a letter or e-mail, accompanied by verifiable biographic data, including achievements in and contributions to the field of technical communication. Please address as many of the qualifying criteria as you can. The information you provide to support your candidate will help the committee consider all candidates fairly and responsibly.

It is important to remember that the nomination of an Honorary Fellow is a confidential matter between the Board of Directors and the nominee. Do not approach proposed candidates to assess their willingness to be nominated or to collect biographic information. Normally, only one nominee is elected; therefore, discretion must be exercised for the sake of both the candidates and the Society.

The current committee members are as follows:

• Sheila C. Jones (committee manager), Fellow, Canada West Coast chapter
• Andrea Ames, Associate Fellow, Silicon Valley chapter
• JoAnn Hackos, Fellow, Rocky Mountain chapter
• Brian McCaleb, Fellow, Orange County chapter
• Frederick O’Hara, Fellow, East Tennessee chapter
• Stephanie Rosenbaum, Fellow, Eastern Michigan chapter

To recommend a candidate, please send a letter or e-mail, posted no later than March 30, 2007, to one of these addresses:

Sheila C. Jones, Manager
Honorary Fellows Nominating Committee
4263 West 14th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6R 2X7
sheilacjones@shaw.ca
sheila@wordsmithss.com

Marian Norby Scholarship Applications Due February 15

In 2003, the STC Board of Directors resolved to create a scholarship fund in the name of longtime member Marian O. Norby, who passed away in 2002 at age eighty-five. In her will, Norby left around $200,000 of her estate to STC.

The Marian Norby Scholarship benefits female U. S. federal government employees who are interested in obtaining training in technical communication to improve their employment opportunities.

About Marian Norby

Norby was a feminist activist, a founding member of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Organization for Women, and a member of various service and advocacy organizations. During World War II, she worked for the Library of Congress and the Foreign Economic Administration (FEA). In response to the gender discrimination she witnessed in government agencies, Norby developed a training program for FEA secretaries. She later accepted a secretarial position in the White House and traveled with President Harry Truman during his 1948 election campaign. After the election, Norby served as a writer and technical editor for the United States Air Force.

Norby served as a competitions judge for the Washington, D.C., Chapter STC and contributed to the chapter newsletter. She also managed the STC Tellers Committee, which tallies the results of Society elections, for sixteen years. Norby was named an Associate Fellow in 1992.

About the Scholarship

The deadline for receipt of applications for the Marian Norby Scholarship is February 15, 2007. One scholarship of $2,500 will be awarded. Application forms and additional information can be found on the STC Web site.

Completed applications should be sent to:

Scott DeLoach
834 C Dekalb Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30307

Scholarship Applications Due February 15

The deadline for receipt of applications for STC scholarships is February 15, 2007. Four scholarships of $1,500 each will be awarded, two to graduate students and two to undergraduates. Application forms and additional information can be found on the STC Web site. Completed applications should be sent to the following address:

Scott DeLoach
834 C Dekalb Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30307

STC scholarships benefit students enrolled in technical communication programs at universities, colleges, junior colleges, and technical schools. Since the program’s inception in 1971, the Society has awarded nearly $465,000 to deserving students.