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.
| Year | Name | Convention 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 |
