Awards

Milton Helpern Laureate: Milton Helpern, MD was one of the founding physicians of this organization. This award was named after him in recognition of his outstanding contributions to modern medicolegal investigative systems in the United States and was first presented in 1991 at the 25th Anniversary of the organization. 

George E. Gantner, Jr., MD Annual Lecturer: The lecture presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Medical Examiners is henceforth named after George E. Gantner, Jr., MD. This lectureship acknowledges and pays tribute to the contributions made by him to the National Association of Medical Examiners.  The individual giving the lecture and receiving the award shall have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of forensic science and shall have attained professional recognition and respect as an orator in a professional field.

Randy Lee Hanzlick, MD Persistence Award: Randy Hanzlick, MD is a past President of NAME and had a decades long influence on the organization as a seasoned, practical, and approachable forensic pathologist. This award was conceived by Dr. Hanzlick and contrasts, by design, with other named awards that celebrate exceptional achievement over the most or all of a career. The Persistence Award is deliberate in its recognition of a young or mid-career NAME member who has already demonstrated outstanding leadership and/or made significant contributions to the medical examiner profession.

The NAME Garry F. Peterson MD Mentorship Award: A trust was formed by Arumugam T. Balachandra, MBBS to honor Garry F. Peterson, MD, a past President of NAME who had a long influence as a mentor and advancing forensic pathology, standards, and research. The trust is organized for the advancement of forensic pathology through mentorship, education and research, by awarding an annual educational grant to a student, resident, or fellow in training who is active in the practice of medicolegal death investigation or forensic pathology.

Eckert Award Paper: The EPP-Journal committee wishes to honor work that is innovative, useful, important, and otherwise influential in the practice of forensic pathology. Position papers are ineligible for the award. The committee does not wish to limit which paper may be honored by defining the criteria too narrowly, so examples may be more helpful. Timeliness, such as a pertinent analysis of death investigation in the nursing home population, may prove the most useful paper in a given year. A new way of considering death investigation, such as testing for carbon monoxide in supposed drowning associated with motorboats, may be the most innovative. A paper that dispels a wrongly held notion, such as the specificity of avulsion of the right thumb as an indication of an attempt to control an airplane’s flight, may be the most important.

The following are Presidential Award Categories

  • Outstanding Service Award(s): An award for outstanding service is presented to an individual who has demonstrated dedication and service to the organization and its mission. The subcommittee for Awards shall determine the number of nominees each year. All recipients of the award shall have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of the National Association of Medical Examiners and be held in high esteem by their colleagues for their service and contributions.
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Awarded to an individual, who over their career has donated to NAME their time, service, and expertise beyond that which is customary or expected. This lifetime of service has resulted in tremendous growth of our organization, such that, without it NAME would not be the outstanding professional organization it is today.
  • Iceberg Award: NAME Presidents to recognize those people who have been extremely helpful during their Presidency.
  • Star Award (Service-Time-Attitude-Respect): Given by the President to an individual who has consistently demonstrated a willingness to SERVE the organization, who spends a significant amount of TIME performing such service, and who constantly maintains a positive ATTITUDE toward and appropriate RESPECT of other individuals and the organization as a whole.
  • Setting the Standard Award: To recognize the efforts and accomplishments of an individual NAME member in the area of establishment and promotion of professional practice and office/system accreditation standards.
  • Executive Diamond Award: NAME Presidents to recognize members for vision, excellence and service to NAME
  • Compass Award: For Steadfast and Enduring Counsel to the National Association of Medical Examiners.
  • Vision Award: In Recognition of Leadership, Collaboration, Advocacy, and Outreach to the Advancement of Medicolegal Death Investigation.
  • Thomas Noguchi Loyalty Award: In Recognition of Unfailing Collegiality and Generosity; for Inspiring Generations of Forensic Pathologists; and for Many Decades of Tireless Effort, Dedication, and Enthusiasm Serving the National Association of Medical Examiners.

 

The following are presentation Award Categories

NAME AWARDS HISTORY (PDF)