Award Winning Alpha Omega

One of the phenomenal things about the Alpha Omega experience is our wonderful tradition. Part of that tradition includes certain honors and awards that we give to worthy recipients.
Alpha Omega’s most prestigious award is our Achievement Medal. The recipient of this award is someone who has made outstanding contributions to dentistry or its allied sciences. Past recipients include such notable individuals as Albert Einstein, Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin, Herbert Schilder, Murray Massler, Isaac Schour, Abram Sachar, Robert Shira, D. Walter Cohen, Morton Amsterdam, Ronald Goldstein, Gordon Christianson, John Ingle, Hans Selye, and many other “giants” of our profession. This year’s recipient, to be awarded at our Annual Convention in San Diego, is Stanley Bergman, CEO of Henry Schein. Those serving on the Achievement Medal Committee serve for two consecutive years, the first year to select the recipient, and the second year to arrange and oversee the actual granting of the Award. Traditionally, the Chair of this committee is a Past International President, and is selected by the International President-Elect to provide over his/her Presidential year’s event. Our Achievement Medal Committee 2010 (Select 2009/ Award 2010) is Past International President Michael Kampel, and the Chair of the 2011 Committee (Select 2010/ Award 2011) is Past International President Cliff Litvak. The committee is composed of the Chair (a Past Intl Pres), another Past International President, and traditionally three to five additional fraters.
There are several other Award Committees. Each of these is chaired by a Past International President, and with the exception of the Special Awards and Presentations Committee, have five additional members.
The most prestigious award given to a frater is the Meritorious Service Award. This award is granted to a frater who has not been an International President, and has demonstrated exemplary service to Alpha Omega over a ten year period. For example, in the past two years, the award was given to two exemplary individuals, Sam Unger and Murray Miller. The Meritorious Service Award Subcommittee is chaired by the Immediate Past International President, who this year is Dan Uditsky.
The “charge” of the Certificate of Merit Subcommittee is to identify a candidate who has shown special service to the fraternity, either on a local chapter or International level. It is chaired this year by Past International President Steve Braunstein.
The Honorary Membership subcommittee this year is chaired by Past International President Joel Schaumburg. This committee’s goal is to bring forth a candidate who is not an Alpha Omega member, who has made an outstanding contribution to dentistry or the allied health professions, or has otherwise made an outstanding contribution to Alpha Omega.
Steve Spitz chairs our Special Awards and Presentations Subcommittee. This committee evaluates possible candidates for: Chapter Efficiency Awards (evaluating student and alumni chapters); The Young Alumni Leadership Award (given to a frater who has been a chapter member for at least five years, showing both exemplary service, as well as demonstrating potential as a future leader); Certificate of Academic Achievement (recognizing a student member with the highest academic average through three years); Alpha Omega Scholarship Award (recognizing the student who graduates with the highest academic average from participating schools); and the Trudi Berger Community Service Award (recognizing the individual, group or chapter, which has performed exemplary service to the community).
Organizations such as Alpha Omega depend on the service and efforts of volunteers. In our case, our volunteers are our fraters. It is, therefore, only fitting that we maintain our tradition of honoring and recognizing worthy individuals for their efforts. I encourage everyone to help Alpha Omega, serve on some of our committees or contribute in a manner that “works for you.” In this, our “Year For Our Members,” it is as essential as always to officially say, “Thank you,” to those individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to Alpha Omega’s goals and missions.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Shavuot. Since Shavuot is our celebration of our Torah, I feel it is an opportune time to talk about “hands on” devotion to certain of the Torah’s themes—specifically Tzedaka and Tikun Olam. As you can see from the description of our main awards, we recognize those that have done more for mankind, and served our Fraternity and society in a demonstrable way.
We would love to have as many people serve on committees as are interested. If you are interested in serving on a committee, please contact either me or International President- Elect Michael Tenenbaum.


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