The Carlyle S. Beals Award was established by CASCA in 1981 in recognition of the groundbreaking research of the late C.S. Beals. The Beals Prize was originally awarded to provide a grant for travel to a General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (every three years). In 1988, however, it was first awarded in its present form: to a Canadian astronomer or an astronomer working in Canada, in recognition of outstanding achievement in research (either as a specific achievement or as a lifetime of research). The recipient shall be invited to address the Society at its Annual Meeting. To be considered for the award, nominees must be current CASCA members in good standing.
An award is now considered every second year, in even-numbered years. The nomination package must consist of a joint letter of nomination by at least two members of CASCA in good standing, the CV of the candidate, and three external letters of support (e.g., from international experts in the nominee’s field). No letter should exceed three pages in length. No other material should be submitted. Please submit nomination packages entirely in electronic form to the Chair of the Awards committee. The deadline for submissions for the 2016 award is Nov 20 2015.
2016 Carlyle S. Beal Award
CASCA is pleased to announce Dr. Chris Pritchet, from the University of Victoria, as the 2016 recipient of the Carlyle S. Beals Award.
Dr. Pritchet obtained his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Toronto in 1975. After holding positions at the University of British Columbia, the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and the University of Calgary, Dr. Pritchet has been on faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Victoria since 1982. He was Department Chair from 1995-1998, and the chair of the 2010-2020 Long Range Plan Committee for Canadian Astronomy. Dr. Pritchet is currently an associate fellow of the CIfAR Cosmology and Gravity program as well as the principal investigator of CANFAR, which coordinates astronomical computing resources across Canada.
Dr. Pritchet’s research in observational cosmology combines the best available technology with sophisticated analysis techniques. His discovery, along with Sidney van den Bergh, of RR Lyrae variable stars in the Andromeda galaxy is recognized as a vital contribution to fixing distance scales in the Local Group. He is a leader of the Supernova Legacy Survey that has provided precise measurements of dark matter and dark energy in the Universe, and he initiated the close galaxy pair study in the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology redshift survey. He has also produced important results on galaxy mass profiles, globular cluster distributions, and stellar populations of galaxies in the local universe. Dr. Pritchet has mentored over three dozen graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and has also made important contributions to astronomy education and outreach as a Galileo lecturer of the International Year of Astronomy and the initiator and primary organizer of Vict
oria’s Café Scientifique.
CASCA congratulates Dr. Pritchet on a distinguished career of scientific achievement and community service.
| 2014 |  Harvey Richer |
“Globular clusters” View Citation |
| 2012 |  David Crampton |
“Carpe Lux. Beal’s Lecture 2012″ View Citation |
| 2010 | Bill Harris | “Between Galaxies and Stars” |
| 2008 | Ray Carlberg | “Preliminary SNLS Third Year Results” |
| 2006 | Georges Michaud | “Atomic Diffusion in Pop II Stars, Globular Clusters and WMAP” |
| 2004 | Ernest R. Seaquist | “The Galaxy M82 – a Rosetta Stone for the Starburst Phenomenon” |
| 2002 | John Landstreet | “Magnetic Fields in Stars” |
| 2000 | Gilles Fontaine | “The Potential of White Dwarf Cosmochronology” |
| 1998 | Gordon A. H. Walker | “Challenges for the New Millennium: Some Persistent Astronomical Mysteries” |
| 1996 | J. Richard Bond | “Cosmic Background Anisotropies and Large Scale Structure: Past, Present and Future” |
| 1994 | Peter G. Martin | “Interstellar Pinball: A Sometimes Shocking Story of Excited Molecular Hydrogen” |
| 1992 | Rene Racine | “Support for Astronomy” |
| 1990 | Scott Tremaine | “Is the Solar System Stable?” |
| 1988 | Sidney van den Bergh | “Supernovae and their Remnants” |
| 1985 | Anne B. Underhill | |
| 1982 | John B. Hutchings |