Name-dropping

One of the centerpieces of the AVMA Annual Convention is the presentation of awards by the Association.

The AVMA-administered awards celebrate achievements from organized veterinary medicine to public service, from research to advancement of the profession.

AVMA members are invited to nominate qualified recipients who are members of the Association for the 2007 awards, which will be presented at the 144th AVMA Annual Convention, July 13-18 in Washington, D.C.

Nominations are invited for the following:

• AVMA Award
• AVMA Animal Welfare Award
• Humane Award
• Charles River Prize
• Lifetime Excellence in Research Award
• Meritorious Service Award
• Practitioner Research Award
• Public Service Award
• Royal Canin Award
• XIIth International Veterinary Congress Prize

AVMA Award
This award is designed to recognize distinguished members of the Association who have contributed to the advancement of veterinary medicine in its organizational aspects. Veterinarians who have exerted outstanding leadership in building stronger local, state, or regional associations, or who have contributed to the improvement of the national organization, are eligible. The award consists of a Tiffany crystal sculpture and $500 cash award.

AVMA Animal Welfare Award
This award is given annually to an AVMA member who has advanced animal welfare, shown exemplary dedication to animal care, and contributed to the community and society. Nominations may be based on a sustained effort or an extraordinary single achievement, and may be in any or all of the following areas: leadership, public service, volunteer service, research, product development, public policy development, animal advocacy, or humane education. The award is a Lucite pyramid enclosing the Aesculapian staff, with the winner's name engraved on the base.

Humane Award
This award is presented in recognition of humane efforts by a nonveterinarian or nonveterinary association on behalf of animals, and for exceptional compassion for the welfare of animals. The recipient is presented with a Tiffany crystal sculpture and a $500 cash prize.

Charles River Prize
The Charles River Foundation established this award to recognize distinguished contributions to laboratory animal science and to promote educational growth in that field. The donor has stipulated that recipients must be AVMA members currently engaged in that field. The Charles River Laboratories Foundation will process nominations, and the AVMA Executive Board will make the final selection. The prize consists of a plaque and $2,500 cash award.

Lifetime Excellence in Research Award
The Council on Research proposed this award to recognize a veterinary researcher on the basis of lifetime achievement in basic, applied, or clinical research. The award is open to veterinarians who are retired from or are currently working in an academic, government, private, or public institution or in clinical practice. Nominees will be considered on the total impact their career has had on the veterinary or biomedical profession. The Council on Research selects the recipient. The honoree's name will be engraved on a commemorative plaque, and a cash award of $5,000 is presented.

Meritorious Service Award
Distinct from the AVMA Award, this award recognizes a veterinarian who has contributed to the advancement of veterinary medicine, and brought honor and distinction to the profession through personal/professional activities conducted outside the areas of organized veterinary medicine and research. The award recipient receives a Tiffany crystal sculpture and $500 cash award.

Practitioner Research Award
This award was proposed by the Council on Research to encourage clinical research in veterinary science by veterinary practitioners. A Tiffany crystal sculpture signifies the award, along with a $500 cash award. It is presented to a member of the Association who is a full-time private practitioner, has performed the major portion of an important phase of a research problem, and has published the results while engaged in practice. Nominations for the award should describe the nature of the research project(s) and include reprints of the published works.

Public Service Award
The Public Service Award was proposed by the Council on Public Health and Regulatory Veterinary Medicine to recognize a veterinarian for long terms of outstanding public service or unusual contributions to the practice or science of public health and regulatory veterinary medicine.

Eligible veterinarians include (1) any AVMA member who has rendered outstanding public service while employed by a municipal, county, state, or federal agency in the field of regulatory activities associated with animal disease prevention or control, food hygiene, or public health, and (2) any AVMA member who, as a faculty member of a veterinary college, has performed outstanding service in the education and training of veterinarians in these public service activities. The recipient is presented with a Tiffany crystal sculpture and a $500 cash award.

Royal Canin Award
To foster progress in small animal medicine and surgery, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet offers the Fido Award and statuette to a veterinarian whose work (within the preceding five years) in clinical research or the basic sciences is judged to have contributed substantially to the advancement of the field. The nominee's work should be known by publication in a recognized veterinary periodical or by presentation at one or more professional meetings. The award consists of a Fido statuette and a $1,000 cash award.

XIIth International Veterinary Congress Prize
The Executive Board selects recipients of this award on the basis of outstanding service by an AVMA member who has contributed to international understanding of veterinary medicine. The prize consists of a Tiffany crystal sculpture and a $500 award.