Charles Greeley Abbot Award

Background of Award

The Charles Greeley Abbot Award is named in honor of Dr. Charles Abbot, who was a prominent researcher in solar energy. During his 101-year lifetime, he developed a number of instruments for measuring solar insolation, determined the solar constant with great accuracy, and contributed greatly to the understanding of the solar resource on earth. He was for many years the Secretary (i.e., Director) of the Smithsonian Institution and was the founder of the Smithsonian Radiation Biology Laboratory. Dr. Abbot was also involved in aerospace. Dr. Abbot provided most of the research funds for the work of Dr. Goddard, the Father of the Space Age, who was the developer of the liquid-fuel rocket. The Soviet Union, having mapped the back side of the moon for the first time, wanted to name a major crater the “Charles Greeley Abbot Crater” and found at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union that this was not possible since Dr. Abbot was still alive. At the next meeting, an exception was made and the crater named for him. Dr. Abbot obtained his last patent at the age of 101, a sign of enduring competence and optimism.

Nomination Information

Nominees for the Abbot Award should:

• Have made a significant contribution to the advancement of solar energy through research and development (R&D). We distinguish the Abbot Award from the Hottel Award in that the Hottel is for successful commercial application of innovative research in solar energy; the Abbot Award is for significant R&D.
• Have conducted their R&D activities primarily in the United States. (For work primarily outside the US, ASES refers nominators to the International Solar Energy Society, ISES, at www.ises.org.)

In addition, nominees need not be members of ASES; however, the Awards Committee will give greater consideration to those who are ASES members or who have taken part in one or more ASES activities or programs in the past, such as Technical Divisions or annual ASES conferences. Nominators, please indicate any knowledge you have on this aspect of your nominee(s).

ASES requests that nominations include the submission of the nomination form and two letters of support for each nominee. The nomination form must be submitted by a current ASES member. Please access and submit the nomination form; however, the letters of support should be emailed to awards@ases.org, using the file naming protocol Abbott_NomineeLastName_LetterWriterLastName. If possible, include the nominee’s CV or resume, or a link to it. Please, no self-nominations.

Questions? Email awards@ases.org.

Abbot Award Winners

2023 Sarah Kurtz
2022 Ranga Pitchumani
2021 Jan Kleissl
2020 Dr. Frank E. Vignola
2019 Charlie Gay
2018 Ralph Knowles
2017 Ed Mazria
2016 David Renne
2015 Mark Thornbloom
2014 Scott Sklar
2013 Henry Red Cloud
2012 William Spratley, Green Energy Ohio
2011 Tom Stoffel, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
2010  Jane Weissman, Interstate Renewable Energy Council
2009  Harold R. Hay
2008  Lawrence Kazmerski, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
2007  Jane Davidson, University of Minnesota
2006  Charles Kutscher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
2005  Gary Vliet, University of Texas at Austin
2004  Byard Wood, Arizona State University
2003  C. Byron Winn, Colorado State University
2002  Richard Perez, ASRC University at Albany
2001  Steven J. Strong, Solar Design Associates
2000  Donald Osborn, Sacramento Municipal Utility Dist.
1999  David Block, Florida Solar Energy Center
1998  D. Yogi Goswami, University of Florida
1997  Donald Aitken, Union of Concerned Scientists
1996  Michael H. Nicklas, Innovative Design
1995  Harold M. “Hub” Hubbard, Pacific Int’l Ctr for High Tech Research
1994  John R. Hickey, Eppley Laboratory
1993  Denis Hayes, Bullitt Foundation
1992  Ronald Stewart, State University of NY at Albany
1991  Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, University of Chicago
1990  Carl E. Nielsen, Ohio State University
1989  Sanford Klein, University of Wisconsin
1988  Frank Kreith, University of Colorado
1987  Roland Winston, University of Chicago
1986  Frederick Morse, U.S. Department of Energy
1985  J. Douglas Balcomb, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories
1984  Susumu Karaki, Colorado State University
1983  Francis deWinter, Altas Corporation
1982  Thomas A. Lawand, McGill University
1981  Karl W. Boer, University of Delaware
1980  George O. Lof, Colorado State University
1979  Everett D. Howe, University of California at Berkeley
1978  William A. Beckman, University of Wisconsin
1977  Maria M. Telkes, NAHB Research Foundation
1976  John A. Duffie, University of Wisconsin
1975  William H. Klein, Smithsonian Radiation Laboratory

Questions? Contact awards@ases.org.