Past Recipients of the Emmett Leahy Award
Edward Rosse 1967 (Deceased), a supervising social insurance operations analyst of the Social Security Administration and known informally as "Mr. Microfilm," was the first recipient of the Emmet J. Leahy Award. Rosse's outstanding contributions to the information and records management profession included the design and installation of a Computer Output Microfilm (COM) system in the Social Security Administration.
William Benedon 1968, Director, Corporate Administration Services, Lockheed Corporation, was the second recipient of the Emmett J. Leahy Award. Benedon's selection was based on his records management achievements as an analyst and consultant with the National Records Management Council; as Supervisor of Public Records for the State of New Jersey where he authored one of the first legislative acts for records management and implemented one of the first state total records management program; and at Lockheed Corporation where he implemented and managed a multi-division records management program. Benedon originated the ARMA Records Management Workshop, the Records Management Correspondence Course, and the Records Management Quarterly and served as president of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA).
Everett O. Alldredge 1969 (Deceased), Assistant Archivist for Records Management at the National Archives and Records Service was the third recipient of the Emmett J. Leahy Award. Alldredge's leadership in strengthening federal records management programs and in promoting records management across all industries was the basis for his selection.
Charles MacBeth 1970 (Deceased), Manager, Corporate Records Management, Hughes Aircraft Company, was the fourth recipient of the Emmett J. Leahy Award. MacBeth's contributions to the information and records management profession included fifteen years of service to records management and records management innovations in the aerospace industry.
Loretta Kiersky 1971 (Deceased), Director, Director, Central Research Library, Air Reduction Company, was the first woman to receive the Emmett Leahy Award. Kiersky's contributions to the information and records management profession included her participation in standards work through the National Microfilm Association and the Special Libraries Association and innovations in information delivery service that were accepted industry-wide.
William Warren 1972 (Deceased), Supervising Management Analyst, New York Port Authority. Especially noteworthy contributions to the information and records management profession that Warren made include the introduction of a "calculated risk" to records management techniques that identified "low value records" that could be destroyed and a cost benefit technique for reviewing and approving forms and reports.
Donald F. Evans 1973, Records Manager, Union 76 Division, Union Oil Company of California. Evan's contributions to the information and records management profession included his "missionary efforts for the records management profession" and the installation of a machine indexing system for the Union 76 records center, which was the first instance of such an installation in the United States.
Harold J. "Mark" Koenig 1974 (Deceased), Assistant Archivist for Records Management, National Archives and Records Service. Koenig's leadership of the federal government's records management program, especially with record records managers in the Executive and Judicial branches, was cited as the basis for his selection.
Helen Harden 1975, Corporate Records Manager, Frito-Lay, Inc. Harden's efforts to improve records management within her company and ARMA were cited as the basis for her selection. An especially noteworthy innovation was the installation of a computer application for records retention schedules in Frito-Lay that several other companies adopted.
Edward Johnson 1976 (Deceased), Chief, Bureau of Archives and Records Management, Florida Department of State. Johnson held key records management positions in state and federal government records management programs. His contributions to the information and records management profession included documented records improvements that saved millions of dollars at the Alien Registration and Naturalization Service, the National Archives and Records Service, the International Cooperation Administration, and the Office of Civil Defense and Mobilization.
William L. Rofes 1977 (Deceased), Manager-Record Analysis and Control, IBM Corporation. Rofes' outstanding contributions to information and records included the design, development and installation of records management policies, systems, and procedures that had a world-wide effect on the companies employing them.
Benjamin F. Oliver 1978, Retired Director, Program Evaluation Division, Office of Records Management, National Archives and Records Service. Oliver's entire career as a records management was spent in federal agencies where he became the best known and respected records manager in federal service. His leadership in a study of records management in the federal government under the aegis of the Commission on Federal Paperwork resulted in findings and recommendations for improvement that were submitted to Congress.
Robert C. Woodall 1979 (Deceased), Chief, Records Management Division, State of California. Woodall was cited for his exemplary leadership of the State of California's records management program.
Gerald F. Brown 1980 (Deceased), Corporate Records Manager Missouri Pacific Railroad. Brown's records management contributions included installation of a complete in-house microfilm service and a computerized control system for the company's records center and design of flow-charting techniques to trace the life cycle of records from creation to disposition.
Don M. Avedon 1985. In preparation.
John W. Porter 1986. In preparation.
Artel Ricks 1987. In preparation.
Fred V. Diers 1988. Recognized as both a practitioner and consultant for multi-national companies, Diers pioneered the globalization of Records Management practices and the profession through organizing and leading RIM exchange groups to Europe and the Far East and implementing international governance standards. He also is recognized for developing and implementing in the 70's, one of the first company wide records management software that enabled end-users to index, store and access records from their desks.
Anneliese Arenburg 1989 (Deceased). A true Records Management pioneer who established and promoted records management within Canada through active consulting work in both government and the private sector. Arenberg was instrumental in developing records management fundamentals for all levels of management and conducting records management training programs in that created a solid records management foundation in Canada.
Ira A. Penn 1990. Ira A. Penn is a former Senior Management Analyst with the U.S. Federal Government. He retired in 1997 after over three decades in Federal records management. Active in ARMA International at the Association level, Ira was the Editor of the Records Management Quarterly from 1984 until 1998. He received the Britt Literary Award in 1979, the Award of Merit in 1982, was inducted as an ARMA Fellow in 1990, and was presented with a Life Membership in 1998. Ira was also active in the Institute of Certified Records Managers. He was in the first group of records managers to receive the CRM designation and served on the ICRM Examination Development Committee for six years and on its Board of Regents for ten years. He was given the Institute's Award of Merit in 1992. During his records management career Ira wrote scores of articles, gave hundreds of speeches, and was a principal author of the Records Management Handbook.
Robert F. Williams 1991. In preparation.
Patricia Acton, 1992. In preparation.
E. Mark Langemo 1993. In preparation.
Donald F. Skupsky 1994. In preparation.
Frank B. Evans 1995. In preparation.
Peter A. Smith 1996. In preparation.
James G. Coulson 1997. In preparation.
David G. Goodman 1998. In preparation.
John F. McDonald 1999. In preparation.
Mary E. Robek 2000. In preparation.
John T. Philips 2001. In preparation.
Christine Ardern 2002. In preparation.
Bruce Miller 2003. In preparation.
Eugenia Brumm 2004. In preparation.
Charles Dollar 2005. In preparation.
Luciana Duranti 2006. In preparation.
Anne Thurston 2007. In preparation .