Achievement Medal Award

Ever since the inauguration of the Achievement Medal Award, 81 years ago, this prestigious recognition has been awarded at Alpha Omega’s annual convention to “recipients or organizations that are outstanding for their contributions to dentistry or its allied professions.”  

The very first award was presented in 1936 to Dr. Leroy Miner, generally recognized today as the founding father of the Oral and Maxillo-facial surgery specialty.  In 1924, Dr. Miner became the first Chief of Staff of the Massachusetts General Hospital and was also elected Dean of Harvard Dental School, where he also served as professor of Oral Surgery.  At the time of his honor, he was the only dentist to have appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.  

YearNameConvention City
1936 LeRoy MS Miner, DDS Boston
1937 Arno B. Luckhardt, MD Chicago
1938 Thomas Parran, MD Cleveland
1939 William J. Gies, ScD Newark
1940 Gen.Leigh Fairbank, DDS Baltimore
1941 J.Ben Robinson New York
1942 No Awards World War II  
1943 No Awards World War II  
1944 No Awards World War II  
1945 Ernest A. Hooton, ScD,PhD New York
1946 Alpha Omega Service Men WWII Detroit
1947 Issac Schour, DDS,PhD Palm Beach
1948 Basil G. Bibby Washington DC
1949 Selamn A. Waksman, MD, PhD Chicago
1950 Herbert M. Evans, MD, ScD Los Angeles
1951 Albert Einstein, PhD Atlantic City
1952 Charles H. Best, FRS Toronto
1953 W.K. Kellogg Foundation New York
1954 Myron S. Aisenberg, DDS Detroit
1955 Jonas E. Salk, MD ScD Pittsburgh
1956 Harry Lyons, DDS Boston
1957 Alpha Omega Founders Baltimore
1958 Abram L. Sachar, PhD, LittD Cleveland
1959 Lester W. Burket, MD, DDS Chicago
1960 Hon. John Fogarty Washington DC
1961 Raymond J. Nagle, DMD Montreal
1962 Harry Sicher, MD, ScD Phildelphia
1963 Geo. C. Paffenbarger, DDS, ScD Miami Beach
1964 Joseph Volker, DDS Toronto
1965 Albert B. Sabin, MD New York
1966 Hadassah Detroit
1967 Harold Hillenbrand, DDS Los Angeles
1968 Henry M. Goldman, DMD Cleveland
1969 William B. Walsh, MD Mexico City
1970 Maynard K. Hine, DDS New Orleans
1971 Gen.Robert B. Shira, DDS Atlanta
1972 Ino Sciaky, DMD Jerusalem
1973 D.Walter Cohen, DDS Montreal
1974 Gen.Surindar Baskar, DDS, PhD San Diego
1975 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Baltimore
1976 Hans Selye, MD, PhD Vancouver
1977 Morton Amsterdam, DDS Detroit
1978 Maury Massler, DDS, DSc Orlando
1979 Ephraim Katzir, MSc, PhD Tel Aviv
1980 Avraham Harmon Toronto
1981 Rosalyn Yalow, PhD Atlanta
1982 Alpha Omega -75th Anniversary New York
1983 Robert B. Greenblatt, MD, CM Palm Springs
1984 Saul Schluger, DDS Cleveland
1985 John I. Ingle, DDS, MSD Boston
1986 Harold Loe, DDS, Dr.Odont. Washington DC
1987 John J. Bonica, MD, DSc Seattle
1988 Bernard Sarnat, MD, DDS Ft. Lauderdale
1989 Israeli Medical Corps Jerusalem
1990 Baltimore College of Dentistry Detroit
1991 Gordon J. Christensen, DDS, PhD New York
1992 Daniel J. Laskin, DDS, MS San Diego
1993 John A. DiBiaggio, DDS, MA Atlanta
1994 Harold R. Stanley, DDS, BS, MS Toronto
1995 Julius Axelrod, PhD Tampa
1996 Harold C. Slavkin, DDS Palm Springs
1997 Ronald Goldstein, DDS Orlando
1998 Yoram Dinstein, LLD Jerusalem (Tel Aviv host)
1999 Omer K. Reed, D.D.S. San Francisco
2000 Herbert Schilder, D.D.S Phoenix
2001 Per-Ingvar Branemark, M.D., PhD New York City
2002 Rafael L. Bowen, DDS Washington DC
2003 Dushanka V. Kleinman, D.D.S. Indian Wells, CA
2004 Judah Folkman, M.D. Vancouver, BC
2005 Phil Gold, M.D., PhD. Hollywood, FL
2006 No Award Granted  Las Vegas, NV
2007 Gerald Niznick, DDS, MDS Tel Aviv, Israel
2008 Arthur A. Dugoni, DDS Phoenix, AZ
2009  No Award Granted Caribbean (Cruise)
2010 Stanley M. Bergman San Diego, CA
2011 R. Bruce Donoff, DDS, MD Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2012 Adam Stabholz, DMD Scottsdale, AZ
2013 Arnold Weisgold, DDS Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Zehev Tadmor, DDS Tel Aviv, Israel
2015 Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD Washington, D.C.
2016 Michael C. Alfano, DMD, PhD San Francisco, CA
2017 Amid Ismail, BDS, MPH, MBA, DRPH        Ft. Lauderdale, FL 
2018    Robert S. Langer, ScD New Orleans, LA
2019 Robert J. Genco, Ph.D., DDS Los Angeles CA
2020 No Award Given   
2021 John D B Featherstone, MSc, PhD Virtual Convention
AO 115 Year Logo

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Clarksville, TN 37040
Phone: +1 (877) 368-6326 
Direct: +1 (301) 738-6400 

Executive Director: Heidi Weber 
Email: hweber@ao.org

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