Exceptional service to the Academy has been recognized since 1952 with an award of distinction for Fellows and affiliates of the Academy. Individuals are recognized for sustained engagement with the Academy over an extended period, making major contributions to the success of the Academy’s mission and programs, its role in the broader community or its organizational growth and development.

Eligibility Requirements

Award candidates demonstrating exceptional service to the Academy must be nominated via the Nominations Committee’s process (see Application Process below). The awardee must be available to accept the award in-person at the Academy’s Anniversary Discourse and Awards ceremony in November.

Application Process

During the first quarter of the year, a message is sent on behalf of the Nominations Committee to all Academy Fellows and Members soliciting nominations for the Academy’s five annual awards that are bestowed at the Annual Meeting of the Fellows and Discourse and Awards Ceremony in November. The task of the Nominations Committee is to recommend a list of nominees (two individuals per award, allowing for an alternate in case the first choice is unable to attend the November meeting) based on the submitted nominations. The nominees are discussed at great length and it is decided as a group which two names for each award should be advanced for consideration—there is the first candidate and then an alternate if the first choice cannot accept. The Academy President extends the invitations to those selected. 

Award Information

The award recipient accepts the award in-person at the Academy’s Anniversary Discourse and Awards ceremony in November.


Previous Recipients             
  • 2022 Edward H. Shortliffe, MD, PhD
  • 2021 James Flynn, MS
  • 2019 George E. Thibault, MD
  • 2018 Jo Ivey Boufford
  • 2017 Barry S. Coller and Bobbi Coller
  • 2016 Terry Fulmer
  • 2015 Ruby P. Hearn
  • 2014 Leslie Goldman
  • 2013 Claire M. Fagin
  • 2012 Gerald E. Thomson
  • 2011 Anne Moore
  • 2010 Corinne Rieder
  • 2009 Jack Barchas
  • 2008 Jack Rudin
  • 2007 Jeremiah A. Barondess
  • 2006 Gordon H. DeFriese
  • 2005 Peter F. Vallone
  • 2004 William H. Helfand
  • 2003 Marvin Lieberman, Jacqueline Messite
  • 2002 William N. Hubbard, Jr.
  • 2001 Stanley Brezenoff
  • 2000 Michael R. McGarvey
  • 1999 Richard L. Menschel
  • 1998 Ralph A. O’Connell
  • 1997 Thomas Q. Morris
  • 1996 Saul J. Farber
  • 1995 Robert J. Haggerty
  • 1994 William C. Stubing
  • 1993 Margaret E. Mahoney
  • 1992 Martin Cherkasky
  • 1991 Mary Ann Payne
  • 1990 Fidelio A. Jimenez
  • 1989 Maurice E. Shils
  • 1988 Bernard J. Pisani
  • 1987 Norbert J. Roberts
  • 1986 Duncan W. Clark
  • 1985 John V. Waller
  • 1984 August H. Groeschel
  • 1983 Iago Galdston
  • 1982 Joseph Post
  • 1981 Edward E. Fischel
  • 1980 John L. Madden
  • 1979 Saul Jarcho
  • 1978 George A. Perera
  • 1977 Frank Glenn
  • 1976 Paul Reznikoff
  • 1975 Albert C. Santy
  • 1974 Gertrude L. Annan, Janet Doe
  • 1973 Jerome P. Webster
  • 1972 Frank B. Berry
  • 1971 Samuel W. Lambert, Jr.
  • 1970 J. Burns Amberson, Jr.
  • 1969 Peter Marshall Murray
  • 1968 Claude Heaton
  • 1967 Howard Reid Craig
  • 1966 Benjamin P. Watson
  • 1965 Arthur M. Master
  • 1964 William Barclay Parsons
  • 1963 Asa Liggett Lincoln
  • 1962 Robert L. Levy
  • 1961 George Baehr
  • 1960 Shepard Krech
  • 1959 Montgomery B. Angell
  • 1958 Charles C. Morchand
  • 1956 Malcolm Goodridge
  • 1955 Haven Emerson
  • 1954 Seth Minot Milliken
  • 1953 John W. Davis
  • 1952 Orrin Sage Wightman