Application Deadline Friday, March 6, 2026

Award Description

The Award is to recognize each year a mid-career scientist for excellence in the contribution of new knowledge to clay minerals science through original and scholarly research. The Award Nominee is to be within the ages of 39 and 60, inclusive, during the year of evaluation by the committee and must be a full regular member of The Clay Minerals Society (CMS).

Nomination Guidelines

Nomination packages should follow a standardized format as described below to ensure fair comparisons among nominees. The nomination shall consist of a nominating letter from a member in good standing of The Clay Minerals Society and the resume of the nominee (not exceeding 4 pages). Supporting letters are not required. Information provided shall focus on the following criteria:

1. Proof of the nominee’s eligibility for the Award in terms of age and membership in The Clay Minerals Society.
2. Evidence for new knowledge contributed by the nominee through original and scholarly research.
3. Discussion of other evidence that confirms that the nominee at mid-career is on a path of an outstanding clay scientist.

Nominating materials must be received by the Awards Committee Chair by e-mail no later than Friday, March 6, 2026.

Submit the nomination package to:

Professor Joseph W. Stucki
Awards Committee Chair
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 217-333-9636

Selection

The Awardee will be selected by the CMS Awards Committee and approved by the CMS Council.  The decision of the Council will be announced at the Annual Conference of that year. At the discretion of the CMS Awards Committee, an unsuccessful candidate for the Award may be renominated the next year.  A nominee will only be considered for three consecutive years, unless an extension is granted by the Awards Committee.

Expectations

The Award will be presented the following year at the Annual Conference of The Clay Minerals Society, at which the Awardee will be expected to present a plenary lecture. The recipient is invited and strongly encouraged to publish a manuscript in Clays and Clay Minerals based on this lecture.

Award Amount

The CMS will pay an honorarium of $2000 and the Annual Conference registration will be waived as specified in the Award letter sent by the President of CMS. An additional $1000 will be awarded upon acceptance after peer review of the invited manuscript in Clays and Clay Minerals.

Current Recipient

Awardee: Dr. Yuanzhi Tang
Presented: The CMS 2025 Annual Meeting, Dublin, Ireland

Affiliation: Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia, USA

Lecture Title: “Small Minerals, Big Impacts: A Geochemist’s Approach for Resource Recovery”

Past Recipients

1992 – Joseph W. Stucki
1993 – Jan Srodon
1994 – Stephen Guggenheim
1995 – David L. Bish
1996 – Darrell G. Schulze
1997 – Jerry M. Bigham
1998 – Murray McBride
1999 – Stephen Boyd
2000 – Jillian Banfield
2008 – Hailiang Dong
2009 – Lynda B. Williams

2001 – Cliff T. Johnston
2002 – Sridhar Komarneni
2003 – Peter Komadel
2004 – Fred J. Longstaffe
2005 – Samuel J. Traina
2006 – J. Theo Kloprogge
2007 – Paul A. Schroeder
2010 – Toshihiro Kogure
2011 – Douglas K. McCarty
2012 – Jeffery Post
2013 – George Christidis

2014 – Will P. Gates
2015 – Balwant Singh
2016 – Janice Bishop
2018 – Stephen Hillier
2019 – Colleen M. Hansel
2020 – Eric E. Roden

2021 – Hongping He
2022 – Young-Shin Jun
2023 – Christophe Tournassat
2024 – Eric Ferrage

2025 – Yuanzhi Tang