The President's Certificate of Merit was created June 6, 1946 by

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...

9734 signed by

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

, "for award by the President or at his direction to any civilian who on or after December 7, 1941'' (see

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

)'', has performed a meritorious act or service which has aided the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

or any nation engaged with the United States in the prosecution of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and for which there is no other suitable award or recognition." The award was for an act or service that was of high degree, but not sufficiently extraordinary or meritorious enough to warrant the

Medal for Merit The Medal for Merit was, during the period it was awarded, the highest civilian decoration of the United States. It was awarded by the President of the United States to civilians who "distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct i ...

. The Certificate of Merit is generally awarded at the recommendation of the Medal for Merit Board, and its design must be approved by the Board. No person can receive more than one award, and the certificates may be awarded posthumously. In 1948, 324 Certificates were awarded, including 67 for people who served in various capacities in connection with production of

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

or aircraft components, or in connection with

air carrier An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

operations under contract to the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

or the

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

. The remaining 257 served in some capacity with or for the

Office of Scientific Research and Development The Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1 ...

Notable recipients

John G. Trump John George Trump (August 21, 1907 – February 21, 1985) was an American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist. A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1936 to 1973, he was a recipient of the National Medal of Scie ...

* Gladys Anslow *

Donald Balfour Donald Church Balfour (August 22, 1882 – July 25, 1963) was a Canadian medical educator and surgeon who specialized in gastrointestinal surgery. He worked at the Mayo Clinic from 1907 until 1947, and was director of the Mayo Foundation for Medic ...

Hendrik Wade Bode Hendrik Wade Bode ( ; ;Van Valkenburg, M. E. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, "In memoriam: Hendrik W. Bode (1905-1982)", IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. AC-29, No 3., March 1984, pp. 193–194. Quote: "Something should be ...

* Thomas H. Chilton *

Harry Chapin Harold Forster Chapin (; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy ...

Hugh Latimer Dryden Hugh Latimer Dryden (July 2, 1898 – December 2, 1965) was an American aeronautical scientist and civil servant. He served as NASA Deputy Administrator from August 19, 1958, until his death. Biography Early life and education Dryden was born in ...

Donald G. Fink Donald Glen Fink (November 8, 1911 – May 3, 1996) was an American electrical engineer, a pioneer in the development of radio navigation systems and television standards, vice president for research of Philco, president of the Institute of Ra ...

* Ernst Guillemin *

W. W. Hansen William Webster Hansen (May 27, 1909 – May 23, 1949) was an American physicist and professor. He was one of the founders of the technology of microwave electronics. Biography Hansen's father William G Hansen, who was a son of immigrants from Den ...

* Henry M. Hart Jr. *

Arthur R. von Hippel Arthur Robert von Hippel (November 19, 1898 – December 31, 2003) was a German American Materials science, materials scientist and physicist. Von Hippel was a pioneer in the study of dielectrics, ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials, and ...

* Franz N. D. Kurie * Edward H. Lambert *

Wendell Mitchell Latimer Wendell Mitchell Latimer (April 22, 1893 – July 6, 1955) was an American chemist notable for his description of oxidation states in his book "The Oxidation States of the Elements and Their Potentials in Aqueous Solution" ( ASIN B000GRXLSA, ...

* Richard C. Lord *

Holbrook Mann MacNeille Holbrook Mann MacNeille (May 11, 1907 – September 30, 1973) was an American mathematician who worked for the United States Atomic Energy Commission before becoming the first Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society. Personal l ...

Nathan M. Newmark Nathan Mortimore Newmark (September 22, 1910 – January 25, 1981) was an American structural engineer and academic, who is widely considered one of the founding fathers of earthquake engineering. He was awarded the National Medal of Science fo ...

* Joseph M. Pettit * W. Conway Pierce * Ernest C. Pollard * Mary E. Switzer *

Ernst Weber (engineer) Ernst Weber (September 6, 1901 in Vienna, Austria – February 16, 1996 in Columbus, North Carolina), Austria-born American electrical engineer, was a pioneer in microwave technologies and played an important role in the history of the New Y ...

References

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Notable recipients

References

Further reading