Award

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

For other uses, see award (Australian industrial relations).

An award is something given to a person or group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field. Awards are often signified by trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins or ribbons. An award can carry a monetary prize given to the recipient, for instance, the Nobel Prize for contributions to society, or the Pulitzer Prize for literary achievements. An award can also simply be a public acknowledgment of excellence, without a tangible token or a prize.

Awards can be given by any person or institution, although the prestige of an award may depend on the status of the awarder. Usually, awards are given by an organization of some sort, or by the office of an official within a organization or government. For instance, a special presidential citation (as given by the President of the United States) is a public announcement giving an official place of honor (e.g. President Ronald Reagan gave a special presidential citation in 1984 to the Disney Channel for its excellent children's television programming).

People who have won certain prestigious awards, such as the Nobel Prize, a champion title in a sport, or an Academy Award (Oscar) can have the award become their identity, becoming primarily known for winning the award than for any other achievement or occupation.

Mock awards, which typically recognize failures or atypical achievements, are also popular and are usually given by people and organizations of lower or average prestige, such as comical organizations and individual writers. Popular mock awards include the Razzies, a satirical counterpart to the Academy Award which recognizes the worst movies.

One common type of award in the United States is the employee of the month award, in which typically the recipients' names are listed in a prominent place in the business for that month.

Some awards are given after a fee is paid by the recipient, such as the German Design Award.

[edit] Lifetime achievement awards

A lifetime achievement award is an award given to an individual to honor his or her life-long contributions. Many organizations give out such awards, including entertainment, sports, academia, and charities. Only three completely fictional characters are known to have been presented with a Lifetime achievement award. They are, in order: Jason Voorhees, Godzilla, and Chewbacca, to whom MTV presented the accolade in 1992, 1996, and 1997, respectively.

Examples:

• The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award
• The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
• The American Film Institute Life Achievement Award

[edit] See also

• List of prizes, medals, and awards
• Order (decoration)