Button Prizes

Current Winner

About the Award

The Kenneth J Button Prize is awarded annually at the International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves in recognition of outstanding contributions to the science of infrared, millimeter, and terahertz waves. The Prize is named after the founder of the Conference Series and is administered by the Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Society. It consists of a medal and a cash prize of $3000. At each annual meeting of the Conference, the Kenneth J Button Prize Committee meets to consider the nominations that have been submitted and elects the recipient of the Prize for the following year. The presentation is made at the following annual meeting of the Conference and the recipient is normally invited to give a plenary lecture at that meeting.

In 1990 an award called "The Infrared and Millimeter Wave Prize," to be awarded "for outstanding contributions to the field of infrared and millimeter waves," was initiated by the Program Council (now known as the International Organizing Committee) and awarded in the first instance to Kenneth J Button, founder of the conference series. The following year it was agreed by the Program Council to rename the Prize "The Kenneth J Button Prize" in recognition of Ken Button's outstanding contributions to the Infrared and Millimeter Wave Community, both as a scientist and as the initiator and driving force of this series of conferences. In September 2013, the criterion for awarding the Prize was changed to its present form: "for outstanding contributions to the science of infrared, millimeter, and terahertz waves".