ECS Canadian Section W. Lash Miller Award

Award Rules

Award
The Award shall be known as the W. Lash Miller Award, to honor the memory of an eminent Canadian chemist.

W. Lash Miller (1866-1940)
William Lash Miller was born in Galt, Ontario, September 10, 1866. His exposure to chemistry began as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto which he entered in 1883. His first teacher was Henry Croft, a former student of Faraday. After graduation in 1887, he went to Germany to study at Berlin, Gottingen, and Munich, receiving the first of two PhD degrees at Munich under Baeyer in 1890. He then moved to Leipzig to work with Ostwald and van't Hoff. Although appointed Demonstrator in Chemistry at the University of Toronto in 1891, he spent his summers in Leipzig, and in 1892 received his second PhD. In 1894, he was promoted to the rank of Lecturer (the Chemistry Department then having a staff of three: one professor, one lecturer, and one demonstrator), and then to Associate Professor in 1900, Professor in 1908, and finally to Department Head in 1921. As such, he became the first Canadian to head a department of chemistry in a Canadian university. His colleagues included F. E. W. Wetmore and A. R. Gordon. He retired in 1937.

Lash Miller is best remembered as one of the first proponents of Gibbsian thermodynamics in North America, a subject he first became acquainted with in Ostwald's laboratory. Although Gibbs, the first person to put the whole of thermodynamics, including chemical thermodynamics on a sound basis, was at Yale University, as Professor of Mathematical Physics, the language of his work was mathematical and the result was less readily accepted in North America than in Europe. Miller is credited with having done a great deal to make the subject intelligible, as well as palatable, to Canadian students and scientists. He is also known for studies on chemical equilibrium, reaction rates, and diffusion, and, in electrochemistry, transference numbers, over-voltage and high current electric arcs. In later years, he became interested in yeast and the effect of various substances on the growth of living cells. In addition to being a brilliant research man, he was a first-class teacher, many remember him for the enthusiasm he brought to the teaching of thermodynamics and electrochemistry.

Lash Miller played an active role in scientific societies. He was president of The Electrochemical Society in 1912; president of the Canadian Institute of Chemistry in 1926, as well as one of the chief founding organizers of the Institute; and president of the Royal Society of Canada in 1935. He served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry for 16 years (1910-1926), and of the Journal of the American Chemical Society for 11 years. He was elected an Honorary Member of The American Chemical Society in 1926, and the same honor was bestowed by The Electrochemical Society in 1929. In 1935, he was honored by the King with the award of Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Lash Miller's successor as the Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, F. B. Kendrick, said of him that "he was the inspiration and driving force for most of the research work done in the Department… during the forty-seven years he was on staff." The present home of the Department, the Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories, opened in October, 1963, was named in his honor. Wilder D. Bancroft, a distinguished American physical chemist of former years, said, in an obituary, that "physical chemistry in Canada owes more to Miller than to any other man."

References
D. J. LeRoy, "Lash Miller and a History of Chemistry at the University of Toronto,” University Chemical Club Meeting, February 6, 1963.
A. D. Allen and R. G. Barradas, "The Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto," Education in Chemistry, 2, 3 (1965).
Wilder D. Bancroft, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 63, 1 (1941).
J. Watson Bain, Trans. Electrochem. Soc., 78, 10 (1940).

Age and Residence Qualification
A candidate for the Award must reside in Canada and graduate from his/her last advanced education degree no more than 15 years before the year of the Award. Membership in The Electrochemical Society is not necessary.

Basis of the Award
The Award shall be made for the excellence of the candidate's publications and/or technical contributions in the field of electrochemical science and technology and/or solid state science and technology. The candidate must have demonstrated independent research in academia, industry or governmental laboratories.

Award Committee
The Award Committee shall consist of two Technical Advisors, chosen by the Executive Committee of the Section, and four members of the current Executive Committee, namely, the Immediate Past Chair, Chair, Vice-Chair (Membership), and a fourth member elected by the Executive Committee. Each Technical Advisor shall serve a term of four years, the two terms having an overlap of two years.

The Vice-Chair (Membership) shall serve as Chair of the Award Committee. Each member of the Committee shall have one vote. The election of the recipient shall require the vote of two thirds of the members of the Committee.

When Awarded
The Award is offered every two years, beginning in 1969. If, in the opinion of the Award Committee, a suitable candidate has not been nominated the Award shall not be offered in that year. The presentation is made by the Section Chair at a regular meeting of the Section, following an introduction of the recipient by the senior Technical Advisor in the Award Committee.

Obligation of the Recipient
The recipient of the Award is obliged to present a lecture on a subject of major interest to him/her in the field of electrochemical science and technology and/or solid state science and technology. It may relate to the citation of the Award, or to current activity. The lecture shall be given at the time of the presentation of the Award.

Selection Process
Candidature for the Award shall be by nomination, in writing, in accordance with the regulations.

A candidate must be nominated by at least one member of The Electrochemical Society. Membership on the Award Committee precludes the right to make a nomination.

The Award Committee shall ensure that ample publicity on the nature and availability of the Award is given. Journals, research directors, and others must be contacted and nominations called for in accordance with the rules.

The first call for nominations shall be made by January 1 of the year preceding the year of the Award.

Closing date for nominations shall be December 31 of the year preceding the year of the Award.

The Award Committee shall consider the nominations and reach a decision on the selection of a recipient prior to March 15 of the year of the Award. The Chair shall report this decision to the Section Chair.

The Section Chair shall inform, at the earliest opportunity, all members of the Executive Committee of the Award Committee's decision. When a recipient is selected, his or her name shall be submitted in writing to the Board of Directors (care of the Executive Director of the Society) at least one month prior to the spring Board of Directors meeting. The Section Chair, acting on behalf of the members of the Section, shall then inform the successful candidate of his/her selection as the recipient of the Award at least one month shall then pass prior to the presentation of the Award. The Secretary of the Section shall report this information to the Journal of The Electrochemical Society.

Unsuccessful nominees must be re-nominated to be eligible for consideration for the next Award.

Method of Recognition
The recipient shall receive a monetary award of an amount set by the Executive Committee of the Canadian Section not to exceed $1500 (US). As of February 2, 1990, the amount is set at $1,000 (Cdn).

Method of Financing
The Award will be financed from the funds available to the Canadian Section. At the first fall meeting of the Executive Committee the projected finances for the year will be examined. If presenting all of the awards scheduled for that year will likely result in an overall deficit position, then none of the awards of the Canadian Section (including the W. Lash Miller Award) will be given in that year.

Revision of Rules
Revision of the Rules of the Award shall be the responsibility of the Executive Committee of the Section, who shall act on the recommendations of the Award Committee. Revised Award Rules must be submitted to the Honors and Awards Committee.

Information
Additional copies of the Rules and further information about the Award may be obtained from the Chair or from the Secretary of the Section.

The Award is presented every two years to recognize outstanding technical contribution to the field of electrochemical science and technology and/or solid state science and technology by a person residing in Canada who has obtained his/her last advanced education degree no more than 15 years before the year of the Award. The recipient does not need to be a member of ECS. The Award has been created to honor the memory of W. Lash Miller, an eminent Canadian chemist. He was the Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto and President of The Electrochemical Society in 1912. Lash Miller was one of the first proponents of Gibbsian thermodynamics in North America.

Information for Nominators
Please provide the following.

• Personal information about the candidate: name, DOB, address, profession, affiliation, and title
• A summary statement of one page or less, setting out clearly the main reason why, in the opinion of the nominators, the candidate should be considered for the Award. This statement should refer to the originality, usefulness, or other merit of the work of the candidate.
• A detailed statement setting forth all the information which, in the opinion of the nominators, the Award Committee should have in order to appraise the qualifications of the candidate. This would be expected to include the following.
  — a brief description of the more important works and the significance of the resultant contributions to electrochemical science and technology or to solid science and technology;
  — a list of publications, both in technical and in patent literature;
  — a list of the more significant unpublished internal reports;
  — professional experience in the academic, government and industrial areas;
  — membership and activities in professional societies;
  — academic record: university attendance, degrees, awards;
  — other professional awards received
• Clear identification of the nominators, by name and address, whose signatures must appear on the nomination paper. At least one of the nominators must be a member of The Electrochemical Society, and should indicate so. The nominators are responsible for sending a complete nomination. If an item is missing at the day of the deadline, the candidate will be rejected by the Award Committee.

The deadline for nominations is December 31. For nomination or information, please contact the Chair or the Vice-Chair for membership.

Original rules approved by Board of Directors    October 18, 1967
Revised by Canadian Section    November 8, 1973
Canadian Section name change approved by Board of Directors    May 10, 1984
Revised rules approved by Board of Directors    May 9, 1991

For further information on any of the awards, please contact ECS by telephone at 609.737.1902; or via e-mail: awards@electrochem.org.