For the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award and the Priestly Medal, the ACS Committee on Grants and Awards presents a screened list of no more than five candidates to the Board of Directors, who selects the recipient. Terms are on a rotating basis. If it is decided that an award will not be made, thereby relieving the committee of its responsibilities, all appointments are extended automatically for another year. These appointments are made by the President-Elect or, in his or her absence, the President. Selection for service on an award committee should be considered confidential.
Members are ineligible for a second consecutive appointment to the same award committee.
Members of each award committee may not nominate, second, or be a candidate for that award, but may nominate, second, or be a candidate for any other ACS award for which they qualify. Appointments are made with due consideration to geographical distribution of committee members and, where appropriate, to subspecialty representation on the committee. Nonmembers may serve on the award committees for the James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching and for the James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award, provided they do not in either case constitute a majority. Promptly after the deadline for receipt of nominations, the Office of Awards and Recognition at the direction of the chair of the award committees, transmits the nominations with supporting data to the members of the appropriate committees, requesting prompt review and compliance with the following procedure. The chair first shall ask the award committee members whether any candidate is worthy of the prize.