22
Geotechnical News • December 2015
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
one representative from the ACGR,
one from the CGS, and the ACGR’s
Research Advisor. The initial signing
officers of the CGF were
Mr. C.B.
Crawford
(NRCC), and
Professor
S.R. Sinclair
(University of Alberta).
Several of the ACGR chairmen and
technical advisors from across the
years are pictured below.
The ACGR managed the CGF from
1970 to 1989, during which time
several projects were initiated with
the goal of promoting and developing
geotechnique in Canada. In 1970, in
co-operation with the CGS, the
R.F.
Legget Award
(for significant lifelong
contributions to the geotechnical field)
and the
Canadian Geotechnical Soci-
ety Prize
(for the best paper published
in the
Canadian Geotechnical Journal
during the preceding year) were
established. Starting in 1973, recipi-
ents of both awards were also given
an honorarium of $250 (increased to
$500 in 1983).
In 1976, the CGF began funding
travel costs for prominent Canadian or
international geotechnical engineers
to present two annual
Cross-Canada
Lecture Tours
(CCLTs). The CCLTs
had actually began in 1965, but until
1976 were funded by the ACGR.
The Canadian Geotechnical Col-
loquium
was also established in
1976. It was awarded annually to a
“young” engineer to present a paper
on a selected topic at the annual CGS
Conference, and included an honorar-
ium of $2,500 as well as publication in
the
Canadian Geotechnical Journal
.
The CGF also participated in other
initiatives, such as contributing to the
publication of the book
Muskeg and
the Northern Environment in Canada
in exchange for royalties from the
University of Toronto Press, and con-
tributing $1,500 to support a lecture
by
Dr. A. Schofield
from Cambridge
University at the CGS Conference in
Vancouver.
Geo Contributions
In the late 1980s, the NRCC decided
to phase out the ACGR, placing the
CGF in danger of disappearing. In an
attempt to preserve it, the CGF trust-
ees decided to transfer the fund to the
CGS, and in 1987,
Mr. A.G. Stermac
(Director General, CGS) success-
fully applied to federally incorporate
the CGF’s successor: Geo Contri-
butions (GC). The following year,
GC received tax-exempt status as a
registered charity, under the condition
that it was to operate at “arms length”
from the CGS.
GC’s first annual general meeting took
place in 1989. The board of trustees
and officers consisted of
Mr. J.L.
Seychuk
,
Dr. M. Bozozuk
,
Dr. R.J.
Mitchell
,
Mr. R.P. Northwood
, and
Ms. A. Poschmann
. As the years
passed, the board expanded to 15
members who met annually in con-
junction with the CGS conference.
In addition to the awards and pro-
grams previously supported by the
Canadian Geotechnical Fund, Geo-
Contributions established and funded
several others, listed below.
• R.F. Legget Award
; established by
the CGS and the CGF in 1970 and
described previously.
• Canadian Geotechnical Society
Prize
; established by the CGS in
1973 and described previously. In
1995 this prize was renamed the
R.M. Quigley Award to honour
the memory of this distinguished
Canadian geotechnical and geoen-
vironmental engineer.
• Cross Canada Lecture Tour
;
established by the ACGR in 1965
and described previously. GC as-
sumed funding the travel costs in
1976.
• Canadian Geotechnical Collo-
quium
; established by the CGS in
1976 and described previously.
• Thomas Roy Award
; established
in 1982 by the Engineering Geol-
ogy Division of the CGS.
• Roger J.E. Brown Award
; estab-
lished by the CGS in 1986 to hon-
our the memory of this renowned
Canadian Scientist in Permafrost.
• R.M. Hardy Keynote Address
;
established by the CGS 1987 to
honour the memory of Dr. R.M.
Hardy.
• Undergraduate Student Report
Awards
; established by the CGS
in 1987 to recognize and reward
excellence in the preparation of a
geotechnical thesis by a full-time
undergraduate student.
• Graduate Student Presentation
Award
; established by the CGS
in 1988 to encourage geotechnical
graduate students to prepare papers
and presentations for the annual
CGS Conferences.
• G. Geoffrey Meyerhof Award
;
established by the Soil Mechan-
ics Division of the CGS in 1993
to honour the first President of the
Canadian Geotechnical Society.
• John A. Franklin Award
; estab-
lished by the Rock Mechanics
Division of the CGS in 1993, to
honour the past President of the
International Society for Rock
Mechanics.
• A.G. Stermac Award
; established
by the CGS in 1999 to mark the
retirement in 1998 of the former
President and Director General of
CGS, This award was previously
called the CGS Service Plaques.
Throughout the 1990s, interest rates
fell affecting earnings from invest-
ments, and GC financial resources
consequently dwindled. GC trustees
had to make many difficult decisions
during those years, including elimi-
nating the honoraria associated with
several of the awards, and directing
the savings towards supporting the
two student awards. It also became
necessary to cancel some of the Cross-
Canada Lecture Tours.
By the late 1990s, concerned that
other core activities might also have
to be cancelled, GC established an
investment committee (chaired by
Dr. R. Benson
) and a fund-raising
committee (chaired by
Dr. J.I. Clark
)
to seek corporate sponsorships and
