Progress Medal and Samuel L. Warner Memorial Award
Earl
L Sponable, Technical and Research Director of Twentieth Century-Fox
and PastPresident of the Society, received the Progress Medal and the
Samuel L. Warner Memorial Award during the Wednesday night banquet at
the Convention, thus becoming the first man to receive the two awards
simultaneously. The Warner Award was presented to Mr. Sponable by Col.
Nathan Levinson, Sound Director of Warner Bros.
President
Peter Mole presented the Progress Medal which the Society conferred "in
recognition of outstanding contributions to the technical advancement
of the motion picture art, particularly with respect to sound on film,
color and large screen television." This formal citation was read by D.
B. joy, Chairman of the Committee which made the selection. All of Mr.
Sponable's professional efforts have been channeled in a single broad
constructive direction and it was the unanimous view of the Committee
that the results of his efforts were far more than adequate qualification
because they "resulted in a significant advance in the development of
motion picture technology."
Mr. Sponable
first gained prominence shortly after World War I for his development
of most of the electrical and mechanical units required for a complete
system of sound-on-film recording and reproduction, constituting the basis
for the sound motion pictures of today. In 1927, he helped develop the
first sound newsreel and, under his supervision. . expanded it into a
worldwide news coverage medium. He has also been a pioneering leader in
the development of equipment and techniques for large-screen theater television.
It was
for Mr. Sponable's years of research and development work in the recording
of sound-on-film that the Samuel L. Warner Memorial Award was most appropriately
presented.
Otto H. Shade of the RCA Tube Dept., Harrison, N. J., receives from President Peter Mole the David Sarnoff Gold Medal Award for outstanding achievement in television engineering.
David Sarnoff Gold Medal Award
The
David Sarnoff Gold Medal Award, for outstanding technical achievements
in the The David Sarnoff Gold field of television and motion pictures,
was first presented this year to Otto H. Schade of the RCA Tube Dept.,
Harrison, N-J-, at the luncheon opening the Convention. Selection of the
recipient was made by a committee under chairmanship of Pierre Mertz.
Presentation of the award, established in 1951 by the Radio Corporation
of America and named in honor of its Board Chairman, was made by SMPTE
President Peter Mole.
In appraising
Mr. Schade's qualifications the Committee cited him for his recent work
in evaluating the gradation, graininess and sharpness in motion picture
and television images, and his proposed generalized aperture theory by
which the performance of camera lenses, films, television tubes and their
circuits may be combined and specified for the first time in objective
mathematical terms.
The
award was presented to Mr. Schade "for his outstanding accomplishments
in the fields of television ~and motion picture science and engineering,
in outlining the potentialities of television and film systems - to fidelity
of photography and reproduction of images." images."