Introduction
The Astronomical League Award is presented to any person, either amateur or professional, who has made worthwhile contributions to the science of astronomy on a national or international level. Previous winners have made contributions to the science of astronomy, founded other astronomical organizations, or made great contributions of their time and energy to the Astronomical League. Current officers of the League (until they are out of office for one year) or current members of the award committee are not eligible for this award.
The award committee consists of the current president, the immediate past president and the second past president, all of whom must vote on the award. The selection of the award recipient must be unanimous. Nomination must be made in writing to the Executive Secretary and contain the affiliation with the League (if any), and the reasons the person should be considered for the award. It must be received at least four months before the national convention. Announcement of the winner is made annually and the award is usually presented at the banquet held at the national convention.
The award need not be given each year. It may be given to more than one person or more than one award may be given in a year. The award may be posthumous. Qualified nominations need not be acted upon in the year in which they are received but may be held for future consideration. No reasons will be furnished for not making the award to any person nor are the proceedings of the presidents’ committee be made public. The committee may nominate additional names.
Guidelines for Nomination
The idea behind the Astronomical League Award is to provide public recognition of outstanding work in the fields of amateur astronomy. By having the recipients describe their work at the annual conventions, the winner can transmit to all of us some of his enthusiasm and knowledge. Qualifications you should consider in suggesting nominees are as follows:
- An outstanding amateur in any field of astronomy with a record covering important discoveries or long continued observations.
- An outstanding worker in organizing amateur observational work and in instructing others in it.
- An outstanding worker in theoretical, computational or mathematical astronomy on the amateur level.
- An outstanding worker in the field of telescopic optics, instruction in telescope making or inventing new telescope arrangements, accessories or techniques, or one who has or is performing exceptional instrumental work for professional observatories.
- One who has furthered amateur astronomy by lecturing or writing over a period of years, in a manner which has contributed in an exceptional degree to amateur astronomy.
- One whose work in organizing amateur societies or groups of societies has contributed significantly to the present wide interest in amateur astronomy.
- One who, as an amateur, has been entrusted with important professional work as an assistant in a professional observatory, leader of an eclipse expedition, lecturer on astronomy or planetarium lecturer, etc.
- Any other person whose work in amateur astronomy has made a significant contribution to general knowledge of the science of to the dissemination of such knowledge among the general public.
Winners of the Astronomical League Award:
| Year | Awardee(s) | Comments |
| 1951 | Albert G. Ingalls | Father of amateur astronomy; author; telescope maker. |
| 1952 | Walter H. Haas | |
| 1953 | Charles A. Federer, Jr. | |
| 1954 | Dr. Armand Spitz & H. Percy Wilkins | |
| 1955 | Carl Price Richards | |
| 1956 | Dr. Harlow Shapley & Charlie Mary Noble | |
| 1958 | Clarence E. Johnson | |
| 1959 | Grace Scholz Spitz | |
| 1962 | Robert E. Cox | |
| 1963 | Wilma Cherup | |
| 1964 | Margaret Mayall | |
| 1965 | G. R. “Bob” Wright | |
| 1967 | Norman W. Edmund | |
| 1968 | Leslie Peltier | |
| 1969 | Leonard G. Pardue | |
| 1970 | Russell C. Maag | |
| 1971 | Ralph K. Dakin | |
| 1972 | Edward Halbach | |
| 1974 | Walter Scott Houston | |
| 1977 | Bill & Cathryn DuVall | |
| 1981 | Dr. David Dunham | |
| 1982 | Clyde Tombaugh | |
| 1983 | Roger Tuthill & Ten Young | |
| 1984 | Dr. Douglas Hall | |
| 1985 | Cliff Holmes | |
| 1988 | Rollin VanZandt | |
| 1989 | Dr. Donald Parker | |
| 1990 | Janet Mattei | |
| 1991 | Virginia Lipphard | |
| 1992 | Dr. David Crawford | |
| 1993 | Andrew Fraknoi | |
| 1994 | Jack Horkheimer | |
| 1995 | Dr. John Westfall | |
| 1996 | Dr. John Percy | |
| 1998 | Dr. John Gott | |
| 1999 | Dr. Frank Bash | |
| 2000 | Don Trombino | |
| 2002 | Richard Berry | |
| 2003 | Dr. Tim Hunter | |
| 2004 | John F. Martin, V | |
| 2006 | J. Kelly Beatty | |
| 2007 | Tippy D’Auria | |
| 2008 | Richard Schmude | |
| 2009 | Alan Traino | |
| 2010 | Dr. Wayne Wooten | |
| 2011 | No award | |
| 2012 | David Clark | Chair of the Texas Star Party and chair of the Southwest Regional of the Astronomical League (SWRAL). |
| 2013 | (no award) | |
| 2014 | David Hans Hough, Ph.D. | Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. |
| 2015 | Robert L. Gent | |
| 2016 | (no award) | |
| 2017 | Jim Fox | |
| 2018 | (no award) | |
| 2019 | (no award) | |
| 2020 | Scott Roberts | |
| 2021 | Carolyn Shoemaker | |
| 2022 | Aaron Clevenson | |
| 2023 | David Levy |