Major General John E. Morrison
The Major General John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation is for outstanding projects that address topics related to the history of science and technology. The $500.00 donation sponsors two achievement awards – one in the junior division (grades 6 through 8) and one in the senior division (grades 9 through 12). Winners receive a cash prize and a plaque with the name of the sponsor, and sponsorship is also acknowledged in the Maryland History Day program, the National History Day program, and in press releases containing the names of Maryland History Day winners.
Major General John E. Morrison, Jr., USAF was inducted into the NSA/CSS Cryptologic Hall of Honor in 2001. Read more about Major General John E. Morrison, Jr.
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 2025 Maj Gen John E. Morrison Jr. Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below). Photos of winners – coming soon. Students submitted projects, papers, and presentations and the award ceremony was held on Saturday, 3 May. The National History Day competition will be held in June.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Rights & Responsibilities in History.” As always, the Maryland History Day competition was filled with inspiring, talented, and impressive young minds. We were honored to present these special awards.
Winner photos coming soon.
Senior Division
Student: Jasper Benke
Award: The Major General John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in STEM Education
and Innovation
Title: Balancing Safety and Security: Lessons from the 1979 Three Mile Island Nuclear
Accident on US Energy Policy and Government Responsibility
Category: Senior Individual Website
School: Walt Whitman High School
Teacher: Peter Kenah
Winner photos coming soon.
Junior Division
Student: Levi Golt
Award: The Major General John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in STEM Education
and Innovation
Title: A Need for Nothing: A History of the Greatest Mathematical Discovery
Category: Junior Paper
School: The Tome School
Teacher: Raymond Costello
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 2024 Maj Gen John E. Morrison Jr. Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below). Students submitted projects, papers, and presentations and the award ceremony was held on Saturday, 4 May. The National History Day competition will be held in June.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Turning Points in History” As always, the Maryland History Day competition was filled with inspiring, talented, and impressive young minds. We were honored to present these special awards.
Senior Division
Title: “Uncovering the Invisible: How Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Discovered the World of Microbiology”
Students: Jordan Fain, Nora Devine, and Samantha Lavallee (not pictured)
Category: Senior Group Performance
School: Severna Park High School
Teacher: Sarah Poole
Photo: NCF Director of Marketing & Communications Christine Harding with Jordan Fain and Nora Devine. Awardee Samantha Lavallee is not pictured.
Junior Division
Title: “Floating for Forecasting: The Impact of Weather Balloons”
Students: Annabelle Liang, Claire Sun, and Eileen Wu
Category: Junior Group Exhibit
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teacher: Margaret Brothman
Photo: NCF Director of Marketing & Communications Christine Harding with Annabelle Liang, Claire Sun, and Eileen W
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 2023 Maj Gen John E. Morrison Jr. Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below). Students submitted projects, papers, and presentations and the award ceremony was held on Friday, 5 May. The National History Day competition will be held in June.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.” As always, the Maryland History Day competition was filled with creative, inspiring, and talented young minds. We were honored to present these special awards.
Senior Division
Title: The Worm that Ate Through the Internet: The Morris Worm”
Category: Senior Individual Website
Student: Aleah Dinmore
School: Arundel High School
Teacher: Michael Yuscavage
Junior Division
Title: “Alan Turing’s Frontier: Cracking the Code”
Category: Junior Group
Students: Beck Medlin, Desmond Horvath, and Emmanuel Dominguez
School: Hampstead Hill Academy
Teacher: Amy Kosmer
Photo: Students Emmanuel Dominguez, Beck Medlin, and Desmond Horvath with the NCF Communications Director Christine Harding
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 2022 Maj Gen John E. Morrison Jr. Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below). The 2022 Maryland History Day event took place online with no in-person competition. Students submitted projects, papers, and presentations and the award ceremony was held virtually on 1 May. The National History Day competition will be held in June.
The theme for this year’s event was “Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences.” As always, the Maryland History Day competition was filled with creative, inspiring, and talented young minds. We are honored to present these special awards to the students.
Senior Division
Title: The Oil Crisis of 1973: How Diplomacy Was Able to End the Worst Oil Crisis of the 20th Century
Category: Senior Individual Website
Student: Charlie Butler
School: Mount Saint Joseph High School
Teacher: Ryan Folmer
Junior Division
Title: The Space Race: The Fight for The Moon
Category: Junior Individual Exhibit
Student: Aleina Pulim
School: Clarksville Middle School
Teacher: Margaret Brothman, Beth Ceglia, and Catherine Mairs
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 2021 Maj Gen John E. Morrison Jr. Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below). Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, the 2021 Maryland History Day event took place digitally with no in-person competition. Students submitted projects, papers, and presentations and the award ceremony was held virtually. The National History Day competition will be held in June.
The theme for this year’s event was “Communication in History.” As always, the Maryland History Day competition was packed with inventive, inspiring, and talented young minds. We are honored to present these special awards to the students.
Senior Division
Title: “Shielded by Steel: How the Preservation of Cockpit Communications Have Led to Safer Air Travel”
Category: Senior Group Website
Student: Hanna Weikert, Mackenzie McCarter
School: South Hagerstown High School
Teacher: Jason Kamler
Junior Division
Title: “The Printing Press and Its Impact on Human History”
Category: Junior Group Website
Students: Andrew Luse, Jacob Hamilton-Rohe
School: Eastern Middle School
Teacher: Jermaine Ellerbe
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the 2020 Major General John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below). Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, the 2020 Maryland History Day event took place digitally with no in-person competition. Students submitted projects, papers, and presentations and the award ceremony was held virtually. The National History Day competition will also be held virtually between June 14-18, 2020.
The theme for this year’s event was “Breaking Barriers.” As always, the Maryland History Day competition was packed with inventive, inspiring, and talented young minds. We are honored to present these special awards to the students.
Senior Division
Title: Ignaz Semmelweis: Pioneering Antiseptic Handwashing
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
Student: Carlin Blash
School: South Hagerstown High School
Teacher: Jason Kamler
Thank you for sponsoring the special award I won, the Morrison Prize for Education and Innovation, at the Maryland State History Day competition. I always enjoy competing in the Maryland History Day competition as a chance to learn new information and showcase this knowledge. This year I chose to complete my project on Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician who worked at the Vienna General Hospital in the mid 1800s to discover the cause of puerperal fever and the importance of handwashing in preventing the transmission of this disease. Semmelweis was intrigued by the fact that the first clinic run by physicians had a higher mortality rate from puerperal fever than the second clinic run by midwives. After investigation, Semmelweis found that puerperal fever was being caused by bacteria from decaying matter that the physicians transmitted to women when they went straight from autopsies to examining women in labor. Semmelweis decided to implement hand washing with chlorinated lime to destroy this bacteria and immediately after the mortality rate of the first clinic drastically decreased. Despite this convincing evidence, Semmelweis’ ideas were criticized and he died before seeing them widely accepted. Today we know the importance of handwashing in preventing the transmission of disease which is why it is the first step that all healthcare workers use before caring for a patient. With the current coronavirus pandemic, we know that masks only provide a small level of defense if we are not washing our hands to prevent the contact of pathogens from our environment to ourselves and others. Ignaz Semmelweis needs to be more widely known for his contributions to healthcare and improving the lives of mothers all over the world. We can also learn from him to never give up on what we think is right when we face criticism, but to continue to stand by our ideas and push for improvement. I have really enjoyed learning about this aspect of women’s medical history as I have completed this project as I hope you have too. I thank you again for sponsoring the award for my project as I feel Semmelweis’ efforts were one of the most valuable innovations in medicine.
Sincerely,
Carlin Blash
Junior Division
Title: Charles Darwin: A Breaker and Builder of Barriers
Details: Click to see the video documentary online.
Category: Junior Group Documentary
Students: Chloe Crawford, Jordan Shriner
School: Severna Park Middle School
Teacher: Jessica Butcher
CONGRATULATIONS to the Junior and Senior Division level winners of The Major General John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below) for 2019. The 2019 Maryland History Day event took place on 11 May, and as always, the competition was packed with the most inspiring, innovative, and talented young minds. The theme for this year’s event was “Triumph and Tragedy.”
Senior Division
Title: Ottmar Mergenthaler: The Forgotten Father of the Information Age
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
Student: Andrew Foster
School: Mount Saint Joseph High School
County: Baltimore City
Teacher: Philip Campbell
Photo: Andrew Foster with NCMF Vice President Orville Lewis
Junior Division
Title: Nikola Tesla: Great and Failed Inventions
Category: Junior Individual Exhibit
Students: Alex Couture
School: Matapeake Middle School
County: Queen Anne’s County
Teacher: Curtis George
CONGRATULATIONS to the Junior and Senior Division level winners of The Major General John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation (see below). The 2018 Maryland History Day event took place on 28 April and, as always, the competition was packed with the most inspiring, innovative, and talented young minds. The theme for this year’s event was “Conflict and Compromise in History.”
Senior Division
Title: Ottmar Mergenthaler: The Forgotten Father of the Information Age
Category: Senior Individual Exhibit
Student: Andrew Foster
School: Mount Saint Joseph High School
County: Baltimore City
Teacher: Philip Campbell
Photo Left: AC vs DC: The Conflict That Sparked an Electrical Compromise That Still Stands Today exhibit
Photo Right: Sierra Burns, 2018 Senior Division Winner with NCMF President Dick Schaeffer
Junior Division
Title: History of Toilet Paper: This performance presents information on the invention of toilet paper, and what was used before toilet paper.
Category: Performance
Students: Kaci Grimplin, Paige Rattell
School: Centreville Middle School
County: Queen Anne’s County
Teacher: Thomas Hayman
CONGRATULATIONS to the Junior and Senior Division level winners of The Major General John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation. The 2017 Maryland History Day event took place on 29 April and, as always, featured MANY inspiring, innovative, and talented young minds. The theme for this year’s event was “Taking A Stand in History.”
Senior Division
Title: Alfred Wegener and His Stand for Continental Drift
Category: Group Exhibits
Students: Na Hye Kim and Theresa Dollar
School: Poolesville High School
County: Montgomery County
Teacher: Daniel McKenna
Junior Division
Title: Elizabeth Blackwell’s Journey into the Medical Field
Category: Group Performances
Students: Samantha Hare, Elise Parks, and Sophia Surina
School: Matapeake Middle School
County: Queen Anne’s County
Teacher: Curtis George
CONGRATULATIONS to the 2016 Maj Gen John E. Morrison Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation Winners!
Senior Division
Title: “Technology: The Next Frontier.”
Category: Performance
Student: Ms. Cheyenne Scott
School: North Point High School
County: Charles County
Teacher: Ms. Jessica Pratta
Junior Division
Title: “Enchantress of Numbers,” honoring Ms. Ada Lovelace
Category: Website
Student: Ms. Layla Grimm
School: Snow Hill Middle School
County: Worcester County
Teacher: Mr. Beau Williams
Photo: Mr. Pete Lesher, Maryland Humanities board member and curator at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum with Junior Level Award Winner Ms. Layla Grimm
CONGRATULATIONS to the 2015 winners of the Major General John E. Morrison Award in Excellence and Innovation!
Senior Division
Title: “Henry Ford: The American Dream”
Category: Website
Students: William Guo and Zachary Toth
School: North Hagerstown High School
County: Washington County
Teacher: Samuel Spinder
Junior Division
Title: “Werner von Braun and the Space Race”
Category: Website
Students: Michael Bowler, David Dzingeleski, and William Jones
School: Catonsville Middle School
County: Baltimore County
Teacher: Robert Dungey
CONGRATULATIONS to the 2014 winners of the Major General John E. Morrison Award in Excellence and Innovation!
Senior Division
Title: “The Case of Henrietta Lacks: Rights to Genetic Material and Informed Consent”
Category: Presentation
Student: Mr. David Polefrone
School: Marriotts Ridge High School
County: Howard County
Teacher: Mr. Richard Malt
NCMF President Richard Schaeffer and Mr. David Polefrone. Photo by Mitro Hood.
Junior Division
Title: “Humans vs. Humans: How Human Medical Research Has Impacted Our Rights and Responsibilities”
Category: Presentation
Student: Cassadra McIltrot
School: Sykesville Middle School
County: Carroll County
Teacher: Ms. Sarah Gallagher