In 1947
(the association's 25th anniversary), PEO Council created its
first award—the Professional Engineers Gold Medal—to recognize engineers
for outstanding public service.
The first
Gold Medalist was federal defense minister C.D. Howe, who was cited for mobilizing
Canada's
contribution of armaments
and equipment
for the Allied war effort. In presenting the medal to Howe at the association's
annual meeting on January 18, 1947, councillor Clark Keith, P.Eng., said: "He
built airfields and planes, he organized industry, and he had an uncanny habit
of being right in a position of crushing responsibility. Of him,
the Hon. C.G. Power, Minister of Air, said: 'If anyone can
do it, C.D. Howe can do it'." 1
Between 1947 and 1963, PEO presented seven Gold Medals to engineers
who made significant contributions to society as public figures.
Evolution
In 1964, PEO's awards program came of age with creation of the Engineering
Medal, to recognize engineers' technical contributions to the profession,
and the Sons of Martha Medal, to recognize outstanding contributions to
the profession through the association. The service award derived its name
from Rudyard Kipling's poem The Sons of Martha, which uses the biblical
story of Martha and her sister Mary to reflect on engineers' role in society.
An Awards Committee was also struck to solicit nominations for the expanded
awards program and to select from the nominees individuals to recommend
to Council for the awards.
At PEO's 1964 annual meeting, John J. Traill, P.Eng., and Dr. Douglas
M. Jemmett, P.Eng., shared the first Engineering Medal honours. An employee
of the Ontario Hydroelectric Power Commission for over 30 years, Traill
was recognized for furthering the hydraulic design of power plants. Jemmett
was cited for contributions to the profession as head of Queen's University's
Department of Electrical Engineering.
The first Sons of Martha awardees were Gordon M. McHenry,
P.Eng., a three-time PEO councillor, who also served as chair and member
of several PEO committees (and went on to become the association's president
in 1968); Robert C. Poulter, P.Eng., who served on PEO's Public Relations
Committee for over 25 years, and Harry B. Tryhorn, P.Eng., a long-time
chair of Etobicoke Chapter and active member of several association committees.
2
In 1970, the awards program expanded further with creation
of the Citizenship Award, to recognize engineers who have contributed to
humanity while maintaining their identities as professional engineers.
3
Modernization
Since then, the program has continued to evolve to remain in step with
society. To help focus nominations in an era of increased specialization,
the Engineering Medal is now divided into the categories of Research and
Development, Engineering Excellence, Engineering Management, Entrepreneurship,
and Young Engineer.
In 1980, the Sons of Martha Medal was replaced with the Order of the
Sons of Martha, with three levels of membership: Member, Officer and Companion.
This change enabled the association to reward existing members of the Order
for continued service, through promotion to a higher level. In addition,
provision was made to reward non-engineers for extraordinary contributions
to the profession by granting them honorary membership in the Order, at
the appropriate level.
In the
early 1990s, a decision was made to update the image and rename the Order
of the Sons of Martha,
to reflect the profession's
changing makeup—a
decision that provoked some controversy. Initially, the committee mandated
with the task thought it might be possible to merely fine-tune the award,
and proposed the name "Order of Martha," which was rejected. Next, it held
focus groups, comprising members of the Order and other PEO members, to
test 16 alternative names on whether they were "in keeping with the profession,
prestigious, gender-neutral and culturally inclusive." Based on this research,
the committee recommended the Professional Engineers Ontario Order of Honour. When
PEO Council approved the new name in 1993, the entire service awards program—ceremony,
certificate and pins—was repositioned to reflect its new image. 4
Taking Stock
Since 1947, PEO has presented 520 service and Professional Engineers
Awards. Its awards program continues to enhance the profession's prestige
and honour engineers who have made a difference to the profession, to industry
and to society.
References
1. The Professional Engineer, February-March 1947,
Vol. 8, No. 2, p 9.
2. The Professional Engineer, April 1964, Vol. 25,
No. 4, pp 26-27.
3. The Professional Engineer, April 1970, Vol. 31,
No. 4, p XI
4. "Service Award Repositioned for Leadership," Engineering
Dimensions, November/December 1993, p 51.