The “Bunky"
The ”Bunky" is the bust, cast in bronze, awarded by the Jellinek Memorial Foundation, memorializing E. M. Jellinek's preferred nickname. Soon after E. M. Jellinek’s passing in 1963, representatives of several international organizations in the alcohol field established the E. M. Jellinek Memorial Fund. E. M. Jellinek's obituary, published in the Alumni News of the Summer School of Alcohol Studies in 1964, followed by the plan to found the Jellinek Memorial Fund, Inc. to make a Jellinek Memorial Award for the outstanding work of scholarship each year, signed by Mark Keller, Marty Mann, Raymond G. McCarthy, Brinkley Smithers, and Bill W.
The initial meeting of the Board of Directors was held on June 2, 1964, in New York City. At this meeting, Mark Keller was elected President, and R. Brinkley Smithers was Vice President and Treasurer. In honoring Jellinek, the Foundation created the E. M. Jellinek Memorial Award, a prize “to be awarded periodically to promising scientists and scholars who were making outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of alcoholism,” explains Mark Keller in his speech presenting the award to Bill Wilson posthumously in 1972. Along with a cash prize, each recipient, chosen by a selection committee, would receive a “Bunky."
The first "Bunky" was created in plaster and painted to resemble bronze to prepare for the awards presentation. In 1968, the Christopher P. Smithers Foundation paid for the bronze casting, which cost $165. The Jellinek Memorial Fund would provide all subsequent Bunkys.
According to the same speech given by Keller in 1972, the Bunky was originally created by Marjorie Reed / Marjorie Post and is a casting of the head of E. M. Jellinek. Interestingly, the artist is not mentioned in any Jellinek-related archival material held by the CAS Library. Additionally, an online search turned up no information about a sculptor named Marjorie Reed, Marjorie Post, or Marjorie Reed Post. The sculptor, like many other associations with Jellinek, remains a mystery.
The 15-pound sculpture is presented annually to the recipients of the Jellinek Memorial Award for their outstanding contributions to the field of alcohol studies by the Jellinek Memorial Foundation. Awarded to Mark Keller in 1977, his copy of the "Bunky" is displayed in the Center of Alcohol Studies Conference Room in Smithers Hall at Rutgers.
The ”Bunky," awarded to Mark Keller
Jellinek Memorial Award Winners
Past recipients of the award include renowned scholars in alcohol studies, such as Kettil Bruun, Robert Popham, Harold Kalant, Bill W, Nancy K. Mello, Jack H. Mendelson, J. Griffith Edwards, R. Brinkley Smithers, Robin Room, H. David Archibald, G. Alan Marlatt, Jorge Mardones, Max Glatt, Kaye Middleton Fillmore, Thomas F. Babor, and Marc A. Schuckit.
William Griffith Wilson, better known as Bill Wilson or Bill W., a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, has been the only individual in the history of the Jellinek Memorial Award who received it for non-scholarly achievements in 1972.
The award was presented posthumously to Bill W., who died in 1971, for his work in A.A. and for changing public attitudes toward alcoholism. On behalf of Wilson’s widow, Mrs. Lois Burnham Wilson, R. Brinkley Smithers accepted the award at the 30th Anniversary Banquet of the Rutgers Summer School of Alcohol Studies (SSAS), on July 13, 1972. The ceremonial speech was given by Mark Keller, a longtime member of the SSAS faculty.
In his speech, the Bill Wilson Bunky Award, Keller shares his deepest appreciation of Jellinek and Bill Wilson, the only non-scholar recipient of the prestigious award.
Bill W. (William Wilson) in 1955, photo autographed to "Lefty" Ralph M. Henderson
Mark Keller, recipient in 1977
Mark Keller was the recipient of the award in 1977 in the category "Documentation," for his outstanding contributions to the documentation of the alcohol literature." It was presented to him on October 7, 1977 in the Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club, Lamington, NJ (a part of Bedminster township), at the Mark Keller Recognition Dinner, an ceremony with the participation of illustrious guests from all over the world, such as Marty Mann, Brinkley Smithers, Griffith Edwards, and Jorge Mardones, along with Rutgers celebrities at that time and soon-to-be big names in the field alike.
The inscribed bust awarded to Mark Keller is displayed at the Center’s Conference Room in Smithers Hall.
Anthony Carpenter, Marty Mann, Mark Keller, the "Bunky", and Brinkley Smithers at the Mark Keller Recognition Dinner
From left to right: Anthony Carpenter, Marty Mann, Mark Keller (partly covered, raising the "Bunky"), and Brinkley Smithers (standing) during the award ceremony, called the "Mark Keller Recognition Dinner," on October 7, 1977, at the Fiddler's Elbow Country Club, Lamington, NJ. The event was attended by illustrious representatives of the field of alcohol studies from all over the world.
Mark Keller, the "Bunky," and Bunky’s daughter
The photograph, taken at Mark Keller's Recognition Dinner, depicts Keller showing his " Bunky" to Ruth Surry, Jellinek's daughter (from Jellinek's marriage to Thelma Pierce).
The E. M. Jellinek Memorial Fund continues to award Bunkys. Interest garnered from a capital fund is used to provide an award to “a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the alcohol/alcoholism field” (Jellinek Memorial Foundation). The Memorial Fund’s Board of Directors designates a specific area of research for the award and appoints an expert selection committee to determine a winner. Past winners have been chosen from all over the world. Awardees are still given a bust of E. M. Jellinek in addition to $5000 CDN.