Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award

This award honors professionals whose work has made outstanding contributions to the scientific study of sexuality. In keeping with SSSS’s mission to advance sexual science as a discipline, scientific contribution is defined broadly to include research, education, clinical practice, public scholarship, program development, and service to the field or the public.

Selection Deadline

The nomination period is open from January 1 - March 15.

Selection Process

The nomination material is reviewed by the three-person Scientific Achievement Subcommittee. The Committee Chair and members of the Subcommittee are not eligible to win the award. The Subcommittee makes recommendations to the Board of Directors for final approval. If a member of the Board is nominated for the award in that year, that Board member will abstain from the vote.

Nominee Requirements

Because the award is presented to recognize scientific work in the field of sexuality, it is not necessarily restricted to members of SSSS. However, the nominator must be a SSSS member.

The nominator bears responsibility for recruiting individuals who support the nomination and for collecting and submitting the complete evidence file for the nominee. 

The nominator must complete an online form and attach the following documents in pdf format:

  • Nominee's current CV

  • Two letters of support describing the nominee's contributions to the field of sexuality. The letters of support can be from two SSSS members or from a SSSS committee and one additional SSSS member.

Review and Evaluation

Primary Review Criteria

  • Impact of the nominee's body of scholarly work

  • Depth and breadth of the scholarly work

  • Influence of the work on research, theory, policy, and/or practice

  • Novelty and innovation of the scholarly contributions

  • Scholarly productivity (with recognition that "productivity" looks different depending upon context (e.g., a large collaborative research lab versus a faculty member who works with just a few graduate students), and format (e.g., articles versus books)

  • Extent to which the nominee acknowledges, includes, values, and/or amplifies diverse voices and strengths in sex science


Secondary Review Criteria

These will be used if the Subcommittee cannot come to consensus based on the primary criteria:

  • The nominee's membership status and active involvement in SSSS.

  • The nominee's likely ability to effectively present their scholarly work in a clear and engaging plenary talk at the SSSS Annual Conference.

Award

In the year the award is presented, the recipient receives:

  • Commemorative plaque 

  • $500 award

  • Up to $1,000 reimbursement for travel to the SSSS Annual Conference to attend the conference, accept the award, deliver a plenary address, and engage with the attendees*

  • Two nights' accommodation at the conference host hotel*

  • Complimentary conference registration*

    *If travel is not required to attend the conference (e.g., the winner lives in the conference city or SSSS holds a virtual conference), travel and hotel will not be provided, but complimentary conference registration will remain in place.

Conditions on Accepting the Award

The award winner must agree to the following:

  • Attend the SSSS Annual Conference to receive the award,

  • Deliver a plenary address, and

  • Engage with conference attendees.

Questions?

Contact us

Previous Recipients

John Bancroft, MD
Frank Beach, PhD
Harry Benjamin, MD
Lori Brotto, PhD, R Psych
Vern Bullough, PhD
E. Sandra Byers, PhD
Donn Byrne, PhD
Mary Calderone, MD
Eli Coleman, PhD
George W. Corner, PhD
Aaron Devor, PhD
Lisa Diamond, PhD
Anke A. Ehrhardt, PhD
Albert Ellis, PhD
David Finkelhor, PhD
William Fisher, PhD
John Gagnon, PhD
Paul Gebhard, PhD
Cynthia Graham, PhD
Richard Green, MD, JD
Allan Guttmacher, MD
Henry Guze, MD
Harry Harlow, PhD
Carl Hartman, MD
Elaine Hatfield, PhD
Julia Heiman, PhD
Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH, CS
Janet Shibley Hyde, PhD
Kamala Kempadoo, PhD
Douglas Kirby, PhD
Robert Kolodny, MD
Hans Lehfeldt, MD
Sandra Leiblum, PhD
Harold Lief, MD
Floyd M. Martinson, PhD
Virginia Masters, MA
William Masters, MD
H.F.L. Meyer-Bahlburg, Dr.rer.nat
John Money, PhD
Donald L. Mosher, PhD
Charlene Muehlenhard, PhD
Letitia Anne Peplau, PhD
Jim Pfaus, PhD
Wardell Pomeroy, PhD
Ira L. Reiss, PhD
Jan Raboch, DrSc
Margaret Rosario, PhD
Michael Ross, PhD
Stephanie Sanders, PhD
William Simon, PhD
Leonore Tiefer, PhD
Deborah Tolman, EdD
Martin Weinberg, PhD
Beverly Whipple, RN, PhD
William Yarber, HSD
Dominic Parrott, PhD