In 1938, Pi Tau Sigma (National Mechanical Engineering Honor Society) arranged with ASME for the joint award of the Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal. This medal is awarded for ourstanding achievement in mechanical engineering to a young engineer within ten years after graduation from the regular engineering course of a recognized college or university.

In 1944, the Charles Russ Richards Award was similarly established as a joint award of Pi Tau Sigma and ASME to recognize the outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering by the enginering graduate within twenty to twenty-five years following graduation. In 1978, the upper twenty-five year limit was removed.

In 1973, Pi Tau Sigma and ASME entered into a new agreement which continued the existing awards and added the Gustus L. Larson Award to honor engineering graduates for outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering between ten and twenty years after graduation. Funding was provided from the ASME Ward S. and Editha Jacobs Fund. 

The qualifications for the recipients of each of the three awards are identical except for the period of recognized achievements. In each case the recipient shall have received a baccalaureate degree from a regular engineering program of a recognized college or university and shall have attained outstanding achievement within the period stated for each award. Achievement shall be all or in part in any field, including industrial, educational, political, research, civic and artistic. The candidate's achievements will be examined for an application of basic engineering methods or principles. 

The three awards are administered by a Joint Board of Award appointed by Pi Tau Sigma and ASME. The Chair is a Pi Tau Sigma appointee. The Board of Award provides forms and invites ASME Sections and other units to nominate for the awards. The Board of Award submits the names and records of the persons selected for the three awards to the ASME Committee on Honors for the formal selection of the recipients.

Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award

The Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award is presented to the engineering graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering twenty years or more following graduation. Any person who, on July 1 of the year of the award, graduated twenty years or more from the regular engineering program of a recognized college or university shall be eligible for recognition.

The award, established in 1944 by Pi Tau Sigma in coordination with ASME, honors Charles Russ Richards, founder of Pi Tau Sigma at the University of Illinois, former head of mechanical engineering and dean of engineering at the University of Illinois and later president of Lehigh University. He was a member of ASME and served on its Board of Governors.

CHARLES RUSS RICHARDS MEMORIAL AWARD RECIPIENTS

1947	Jacob P. Hartog	1967	T. Cyril Noon	1986	E. Kent Springer
1949	Arthur M. Wahl	1968	Bernard W. Shaffer	1987	Allen F. Rhodes
1950	Burgess H. Jennings	1969	Robert E. Uhrig	1989	Ward O. Winer
1951	J. Kenneth Salisbury	1970	Ralph G. Nevins	1990	Ramesh K. Shah
1952	Jess H. Davis	1971	Howard L. Harrison	1991	Ranga Komanduri
1953	Thomas M. Lumly	1972	Charles E. Jones	1992	Frederick F. Ling
1954	Robert H. Hughes	1973	Ali A. Seireg	1994	John H. Staehlin
1955	Sylvan Cromer	1974	Richard J. Grosh	1995	C. Dan Mote, Jr.
1956	Everett M. Barber	1975	Carl F. Zorowski	1996	Junuthula N. Reddy
1957	Wayne C. Edmister	1976	Ali S. Argon	1997	Tsu-Wei Chou
1958	Donald C. Burnham	1977	Hassan A. Hassan	1998	Masayoshi Tomizuka
1959	M. Eugene Merchant	1978	John C. Chato	1999	Ephraim Suhir
1960	Ascher H. Shapiro	1979	John H. Lienhard	2000	Bharat Bhushan
1961	Harrison A. Storm, Jr.	1980	Albert I. King	2001	Adrian Bejan
1962	Dudley D. Fuller	1981	Shien-Ming Wu	2002	Salvatore Torquato
1963	George F. Carrier	1982	L. S. "Skip" Fletcher	2003	Roop L. Mahajan
1964	Simon Ostrach	1983	Peter A. Engel	2005	Warren R. DeVries
1965	Leonard J. Koch	1984	Ferdinand Freudenstein	2006	Ramesh K. Agarwal
1966	J. Lowen Shearer	1985	Ephraim M. Sparrow	2007	Ricahrd O. Buckius
				2008	Guruswami Ravichandran