The Sidney Prize is awarded to journalists who pursue social justice and public policy for the common good. The foundation also awards fellowships for journalism and research. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that receives donations from individuals, corporations and other institutions. The foundation is led by a board of directors. Bruce Raynor, former president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America labor union, is the current president. The foundation has a left-of-center political bent.
Every year, New York Times columnist David Brooks announces the “Sidneys,” a group of writers who have produced outstanding long-form essays in the past year. The selections usually include heavy hitters at top-tier publications, such as Hilton Als writing for The New Yorker and Ed Yong writing for The Atlantic. The prizes honor a wide range of subjects and styles, but the writers all share an ability to take readers on a journey.
In 2024, the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize was given to Rachel Ang for her story “Thalassophobia.” The winning short story will be published in Overland’s next print edition, and two runners-up will have their stories published online coinciding with the publication of the print edition. The competition is open to all writers nationally and internationally at any stage of their writing careers.
Each year the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) awards a prize named in memory of Sidney Edelstein to an outstanding scholarly book on the history of technology. In 2023, the award was presented to Stephan Miescher for his work A Dam for Africa: Akosombo Stories from Ghana (Indiana University Press, 2022). The prize is one of SHOT’s highest awards for scholarly work.
The Sidney Black Memorial Engineering Scholarship, established in memory of UHI engineering alumnus Sir Sidney Black, is open to female students studying for their BEng on any of the University’s engineering programmes. The Scholarship is worth £500 and will be awarded to a student who has demonstrated an excellent combination of academic achievement, personal attributes and contributions to society/student life.
