Today we are here to award the Bowie Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Geophysical Union, to Henry William Menard. Bill Menard's outstanding contributions to geological sciences span 4 decades, making him one of only a handful of geologists of his generation to survive, and go on to lead, the plate tectonic revolution. Bill has given us ocean basins and rises, fracture zones and depth anomalies, crenelate ridges and pivoting subduction. His books on the history and sociology of science are well respected by experts in the field. For those of us who would aspire to some measure of significance and longevity in our own careers, it is appropriate on this occasion to catalogue some of Bill's attributes, which continue to sustain a lifetime of achievement.