Purpose
A commitment to service is one of the keystones of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and Sigma Pi Sigma (ΣΠΣ). The Worth Seagondollar Service Award is to be given in recognition of an exemplary level of commitment and service to the SPS and ΣΠΣ.
Eligibility
To be considered for this award, an individual should have served on the SPS National Council or Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may vote to waive this requirement in particular cases.
Nomination Procedures
Names of potential recipients may be submitted to the SPS/ΣΠΣ Executive Committee by a current SPS Council Member, a current member of the SPS/ΣΠΣ Executive Committee, or by a ΣΠΣ member. Nominations may be endorsed and forwarded to the Executive Committee by current SPS Council members if the nominator is not eligible to suggest a candidate. The nomination should be made in writing to the SPS National Office and should include a complete explanation of why the individual is being nominated. If the nomination is being forwarded by a Council member on behalf of someone else, the Council member should also provide a written support for the endorsement.
Selection Procedure
All nominations will be considered by the SPS/ΣΠΣ Executive Committee. Selection requires a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee.
Award
The Award will be a medal and certificate presented to the recipient. The name of the recipient will be engraved on a plaque that is displayed in the SPS National Office. The service biography of the recipient will be added to the collection of readings for a Sigma Pi Sigma Induction or Installation Ceremony.
History
The award was first presented to its namesake, Worth Seagondollar, North Carolina State University, at the 1996 Congress of Sigma Pi Sigma, held in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Lewis Worth Seagondollar, Ph.D., of Raleigh, NC, was a member of the Manhattan Project, first to measure the critical mass of Plutonium, and present at the Trinity Test. He was a very successful SPS chapter advisor at both the University of Kansas and North Carolina State University, and was a leading nuclear physicist. Seagondollar played a central role, as Sigma Pi Sigma President in the merger of the AIP Student Sections and Sigma Pi Sigma that created the Society of Physics Students (SPS). Selected also as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, he was an active member of numerous professional organizations, and is now a professor emeritus at NC State University. Dr. Seagondollar died peacefully in his sleep September 20, 2013.