PTC grants three awards at its annual conference, namely, the Richard J. Barber PTC Distinguished Service Award, the Meheroo Jussawalla Research Paper Prize, and the O. S. Braunstein Prize.
Additional awards are also announced during the annual PTC Awards Luncheon given by partner organizations including the Atlantic-ACM Awards and the ICF Top 7 announcement. | Video: PTC’12 Awards Ceremony |

Richard J. Barber PTC Distinguished Service Award Nominations

All PTC members are invited to make a nomination for this prestigious award that honors a person who has provided exceptional service to PTC over a significant period of time.

The award includes high-profile recognition at the PTC annual conference along with a certificate and a gift. Previous award recipients include Dick Barber as the first awardee, Bruce Drake, Chris Vonwiller and Meheroo Jussawalla. The 2012 winner is Dan J. Wedemeyer.

Nominations are open year round with the recipient to be announced at PTC’s annual conference each January. If you would like to make a nomination, please download the nomination guidelines.

Nomination deadline: Friday, 9 November 2012 for the Award to be given at PTC’13 during the Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, January 23, 2013.

To submit a nomination, please email awards@ptc.org with the appropriate nomination materials. Alternatively, you may fax the nomination materials to +1.808.944.4874 or mail them to:

Pacific Telecommunications Council
c/o Secretary of the Board of Governors
914 Coolidge Street
Honolulu, HI 96826-3085
USA

The Richard J. Barber PTC Distinguished Service Award has been established by the Pacific Telecommunications Council to recognize the value of a member, staff person, or volunteer who has provided exceptional service to PTC over a significant period of time. The award is named for Richard J. Barber, the founding Executive Director of PTC.

2012 Award Recipient

Dr. Dan J. Wedemeyer, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii at Manoa, is the winner of the 2012 Richard J. Barber PTC Distinguished Service Award. The award was announced on Wednesday, 18 January during the PTC’12 Awards Luncheon [Video].

Dr. Wedemeyer is a founding member of PTC and has distinguished himself with long and valuable service to PTC. He has provided exceptional, meritorious service to PTC since its inception in 1978 and continuing today.

He has led many aspects of the growth and development of PTC and worked closely in both the operations of the annual conference as well as activities of the Council throughout the year including, in particular, taking the lead in the organization of additional seminars throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

He may be most noted for the very significant role he played in assuring the quality of the content of the annual conference and building it into a ‘must-attend’ event as the Editor of the annual conference proceedings for many years.

O. S. Braunstein Prize

The O. S. Braunstein Prize is awarded to the best student research paper. This prize has been given by PTC for many years, and has been underwritten by Yale Braunstein, a long-time PTC member and son of the late O. S. Braunstein, on behalf of his family since 2008. The prize is valued at over $1,700 and includes a $500 cash award, conference registration, and up to $1,000 for travel and accommodations to present at PTC’12.

2012 Recipient

Joshua Blumenstock, a doctoral candidate in the School of Information, University of California – Berkeley was named the winner of the O. S. Braunstein Prize for best student paper at PTC’12.

His paper, Risk and Reciprocity Over the Mobile Phone Network: Evidence from Rwanda, was presented at PTC’12 in a research session on Tuesday 17 January 2012.

The article is based on Blumenstock’s dissertation research, which measures the impact that mobile phones are having on the agriculturally-based economies of rural Rwanda. The paper explores how person-to-person financial transfers via mobile phone can help Rwandans cope with risk and income volatility and deal with temporary economic shocks.

PTC offers two named awards for excellence in research: The Meheroo Jussawalla Research Paper Prize for best overall participant research paper and the O. S. Braunstein Prize for best student research paper at PTC’12.

For submission details, please refer to the PTC’12 Proposal Submission Form.

Meheroo Jussawalla Prize

The Meheroo Jussawalla Prize is given to the best participant research paper at the annual PTC conference. The prize is named in honor of international telecommunications scholar, Meheroo Jussawalla. It is open to all participants at the annual conference with research papers accepted for presentation.

2012 Recipient

Omar A. El Sawy, Joseph W. Clark and Francis Pereira, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, are the winners of the PTC Meheroo Jussawalla Research Prize for the best overall research paper at PTC’12.

Their paper, Capabilities, Configurations and Customer-Contexts: A Business Model Framework for the Process of Digital Service Innovation, was presented during a research workshop on Sunday 15 January 2012 during the annual conference.