The Emmett Leahy Award is given annually to individuals who have had major impact on the field of information management.
The award has been given since 1967, and honors Emmett Leahy, a pioneer in records management.
Introduction
The Emmett Leahy Award[1] is an annual award that recognizes an individual whose outstanding contributions have had a major impact on the field of information and records management. First presented in 1967 and given in honor of Emmett J. Leahy (1910-1964), an American pioneer in records management, it is widely regarded as the highest award for individual accomplishment in the field. It is the significance of the individual’s overall impact that sets it apart from other awards, which recognize professional service or are presented to project teams, groups, companies or public organizations. Each year the independent Award Committee, comprising the last ten awardees, selects the recipient based on their creation of original records and information management principles and concepts, their demonstrable and substantive impact on records and information management practices, and their promotion of excellence in the profession through innovative thought leadership and direct engagement in records and information management education.
Recipients have included records managers, archivists, educators, users and consultants from the USA and internationally.
History of the award
The Emmett Leahy Award was created by Rodd Exelbert,[2] founder of the Information and Records Management (IRM) magazine. In 1966 he was looking for a way to spotlight outstanding contributions to the IRM profession through an award when he heard a presentation by Christopher Cameron, Managing Partner of Leahy & Company, at the ARMA Convention in Houston about the work of Emmett J. Leahy. It inspired him to want to name the award after Leahy. Following discussions with Leahy & Company, and gaining the permission of Leahy’s widow Betty, the Emmett Leahy Award, for "a man or woman whose unique contributions to records control, filing, and information retrieval have advanced the information and records management profession", was born. Exelbert convened a committee of IRM experts who worked to develop a set of selection criteria and a list of candidates to evaluate against the criteria. The first award, in the form of a personalised plaque for the recipient to retain, was presented to Ed Rosse, US Social Security Administration, at the 1967 ARMA Annual Meeting.
Exelbert administered the award until 1980 using the IRM magazine to publicize it and solicit nominations, which widened its scope and increased the number of potential candidates. He introduced changes to the process by including at least one Emmett Leahy Award recipient on the selection committee. Around the same time ARMA decided that the award should no longer be presented at its meetings, since it was not involved in the process and were concerned it was competing against its own awards. They asked their official certifying body, the Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM),[3] to assume administration of the award. At a meeting in late 1981 the Board of Regents of the ICRM considered this request and established a committee to examine the issue. Over the next three years discussions took place with Leahy Business Archives Inc. and Mrs Betty Leahy White, Emmett Leahy’s widow, about the award’s future administration. Formal delegation of authority was finally secured in 1983 and the award process resumed in 1984 with the next award being made in 1985.
The award has continued to be sponsored but it is the exclusive responsibility of the Emmett Leahy Award Committee[4] to select the annual recipient. Following the initial sponsorship by the publisher of the Information and Records Management Magazine and then the ICRM, Pierce Leahy Archives became the sponsors in the late 1980s followed by Iron Mountain in 2000. Other sponsors have included Huron Consulting Group and Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. In 2019 Preservica, a digital preservation company,[5] became the award’s sponsor.
Nomination and selection process
The selection of the annual Emmett Leahy Award[6] recipient is the exclusive responsibility of the Emmett Leahy Award Committee.[7] Composed of the previous ten award winners, the Committee is independent and not associated with any other organization.
Any living individual who has had a major impact on the field of records and information management is eligible to be nominated. The Committee identifies potential nominees and nominations[8] may also be submitted to the Committee Chair by any individual, organization, or institution. The Committee reviews all nominations and then invites an agreed final set of nominees who meet the award criteria to submit formal applications.
Individuals invited to apply are asked to submit their application in accordance with the content and format guidance provided on the award website. Since this award honors individuals who have had a significant impact on the records and information management field, applications need to make clear the individual's specific role in bringing about the impacts identified. They must demonstrate the individual's impact in four areas: (i) Program Development and Management, (ii) Innovation, (iii) Education and (iv) Professional and Organizational Leadership.
Each Committee member independently reviews and assesses the submissions of invited applicants against the award criteria. The Committee then meets to discuss each applicant in detail and ranks them to reach their decision about the successful applicant for that year. The Committee’s deliberations are conducted on the basis of objectivity, respect and consensus.
List of Recipients
In reverse chronological order from 1967 to the present day. See the ‘Award Winners’ section of the Emmett Leahy Award website for further details of recipients.
