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 t ...

9734 signed by US President

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, ju ...

)'', 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 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 operations under contract to the Army Air Forces 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.

Notable recipients

* John G. Trump * 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 * 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 A ...

* Hugh Latimer Dryden * Donald G. Fink * Ernst Guillemin * W. W. Hansen * Henry M. Hart Jr. * Arthur R. von Hippel * 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 * 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