Awards & Recognition

Each year, AFA recognizes outstanding contributions by our members/colleagues in 15 different categories. Those categories are listed below. The awards presented at the Closing Banquet are the Dr. Robert H. Shaffer, Jack L. Anson, Sue Kraft Fussell Distinguished Service Awards, and the Dr. Kent L. Gardner Award. All other awards are presented at other times during the AFA Annual Meeting.

Previous winners

Nomination instructions

2023 award nominations are now closed; individual and institution/organization awards were due on Friday, June 2 at 11:59 PM PT. Look out for the 2023 award winner announcements during AFA’s Awards and Recognition Week, October 2 through 6, 2023. Applications for the 2024 awards will open in the Spring of 2024. In preparation for future awards applications, please review the 10 Tips for an Outstanding Nomination.

Individual Awards

Letter of Support for Individual Awards

The Awards and Recognition Committee created the Support Letter Form to allow nominators to provide a more comprehensive narrative of those they are nominating for association individual awards. Using this form allows nominators to speak more directly to the qualities, skills, and talents of nominees than Support Letters of the past.

Please use the form to submit a letter of support for ONLY the following awards:

  • Dr. Kent Gardner Award
  • Jack L. Anson Award
  • Robert H. Schaffer Award
  • Sue Kraft Fussell Distinguished Service Award
  • Gayle Webb New Professional Award

Note: only five (5) letters of support forms will be considered for each nominee. If additional forms are submitted, the first five (5) submitted forms will be considered for scoring purposes.

Institution and Organization Awards

Please contact Will Frankenberger, 2023 Awards & Recognition Committee chair, with any questions.