Allan D. Emil Memorial Award
The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award was one of the most prestigious IAF awards. It was presented annually for an outstanding contribution to space activities which involved international cooperation in astronautics.
The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award was one of the most prestigious IAF awards. Starting from 1977, the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award was presented annually for an outstanding contribution to space science, space technology, space medicine or space law. This contribution either involved the participation of more than one nation or furthered the possibility of greater international cooperation in astronautics.
The award was preferably granted to a single person. Exceptionally, it might have beengranted to two or more persons if their contributions were equal or contributions made were the result of their joint efforts. Any IAF member organisations in good standing was in the position of nominating candidates for the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award. Only one nomination per organisation was accepted each year. Every year during the IAF Spring Meetings in Paris, the IAF Honours and Awards Committee reviewed the nominations and made a recommendation to the IAF Bureau. The final decision rested with the IAF Bureau. The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award was given during the closing ceremony of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC). The award consisted of a grant offered by the Family of Allan D. Emil and a certificate from the IAF. The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award recipient was also invited to participate in the Gala Dinner of the IAC.
Allan D. Emil
Allan D. Emil
Allan D. Emil (1898 – 1976), a noted U.S. lawyer, philanthropist, patron of the arts and business man, became attracted to aviation when he and aviation were both young. One of the youthful attorney’s earliest clients was Paul Kollsman, whose pioneering work on the altimeter paved the way for instrument flight. The association soon led to others, and in turn to Mr Emil becoming one of the foremost lawyers in the field of flight. Appointed counsel to the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, he was the only member of its board of directors who was not an engineer. Mr Emil played a crucial role in designing the merger which joined the Institute with the American Rocket Society to form the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As the technology of flight expanded to include space, so did Mr. Emil’s interests. The award in his memory reflects these interests along with his deep commitment as an internationalist, humanist, and man of peace. His commitment was borne out in a multitude of activities. He was active in the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies for 30 years, and was Vice Chairman of its board of trustees. He had been Vice-President of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Treasurer of the American Federation of Arts, Executive Vice Chairman of the Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, a founder of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a Trustee of Bennigton College, a Trustee of the American Friends of the Tate Gallery in London, and a patron of the Museum of Modern Art and a Fellow in Perpetuity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At his death, he was a senior partner in the New York law firm of Rosenman Colin Kaye Petschek Freund & Emil.
Award recipients
Dr. Joan Vernikos received the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award at the International Astronautical Congress 2019 in Washington D.C., United States.
Dr. Lei Fanpei received the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award at the International Astronautical Congress 2017 in Adelaide, Australia.
Dr. Charles Elachi received the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award at the International Astronautical Congress 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Dr. Virendra Jha recieving the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award at the International Astronautical Congress 2015 in Jerusalem, Israel.
Dr. Koppillil Radhakrishnan recieves the 2014 Allan D. Emil Memorial Award from IAF President Kiyoshi Higuchi at the IAC Opening Ceremony in Toronto, Canada.
Ma Xingrui receives the 2013 Allan D. Emil Memorial Award from IAF President Kiyoshi Higuchi at the IAC Opening Ceremony in Beijing, China.
Kuninori Uesugi receives the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award 2012 from IAF President Kiyoshi Higuchi at the IAC Closing Ceremony in Naples, Italy. Credit: IAF/Armonica Film
The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award 1977-2007 book
The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award 1977-2007 is a book published by the IAF in 2007. It details the story of one of the Federation’s most prestigeous awards. You may contact the IAF Secretariat to receive a copy.
The Allan D. Emil Memorial Award 1977-2007 Book
Past winners
- 2020 Dr K. Sivan
- 2019 Joan Vernikos
- 2018 Xia Guohong
- 2017 Lei Fanpei
- 2016 Charles Elachi
- 2015 Virendra Jha
- 2014 Koppillil Radhakrishnan
- 2013 Ma Xingrui
- 2012 Kuninori Uesugi
- 2011 Kuniaki Shiraki
- 2010 Nikolay Anfimov
- 2009 Wei Sun
- 2008 Conrad Lautenbacher
- 2007 Gerhard Haerendel
- 2006 Oleg Alifanov
- 2005 Ernesto Vallerani
- 2004 Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan
- 2003 Liu Jiyuan
- 2002 Jean-Claude Husson
- 2001 Richard Kline
- 2000 Marcio Barbosa
- 1999 Edward Stone
- 1998 Alvaro Azcarraga
- 1997 James Harford
- 1996 Anatolyi Grigoriev
- 1995 Karl Doetsch
- 1994 Saturo Saito
- 1993 Hubert Curien
- 1992 George Müller and U. Ram Rao
- 1991 Guy Severin and Yuri Semenov
- 1990 Oleg Gazenko, Arnauld Nicogossian and Karl Klein
- 1989 Johannes Geiss
- 1988 Vladimir Kopal
- 1987 Ruedeger Reinhard, Burton Edelson, Roger Bonnet, Roald Sagdeev and Minoru Oda
- 1986 Robert Freitag
- 1985 Hans Hoffmann
- 1984 Lubos Perek
- 1983 Roy Gibson
- 1982 Roger Chevallier
- 1981 Peter Jankowitsch and Leonid Sedov
- 1980 Thomas Stafford
- 1979 Santiago Astrain
- 1978 Konstantin Bushuyev and Glynn S Lunney
- 1977 Charles Draper
