The OMSA President appoints the OMSA Awards Committee and Chairman. Its purpose is to compile and present the nominations for OMSA Service Awards to the Board of Directors of OMSA. Any OMSA member may nominate another member or individual for an OMSA award. A reminder notice will be published in JOMSA usually in the January-February issue. The OMSA Board of Directors is the sole governing body to determine final award recipients and the level or type of award to be granted.
A full list of prior recipients is given below, or in more details in the Honors Registry document available in pdf format for downloaded, by clicking on the link.
- Distinguished Member
- Distinguished Service Medal
- Meritorious Service Medal
- Commendation Medal
- Literary Medal
- Special Awards
DISTINGUISHED MEMBER – This is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a member by the Society, and it is only awarded for the most exemplary service over a lengthy period of time. The Awards Committee and the Awards Board will closely scrutinize nominations. Approval requires a three-fourth-majority vote of the Board.
Distinguished Members:
- DM#01 Harrold E. Gillingham (1951) †
- DM#02 Vladimir G. von Richter (1951) †
- DM#03 Georg Schreiber (1953) †
- DM#04 Frederick W. McKay (1955) †
- DM#05 Dr. Kurt L. Kleitman (1961) †
- DM#06 Rolfe R. Holbrook (1968)
- DM#07 S. G. Yasinitsky (1968) †
- DM#08 John E. Lelle (1980) †
- DM#09 Harry A. Mohler (1980) †
- DM#10 J. Robert Elliott (1984) †
- DM#11 Cornelius B. Tyson (1986) †
- DM#12 Lee E. Bishop, Jr. (1993) †
- DM#13 John M. A. Tamplin (1994) †
- DM#14 Albert F. Gleim (1997) †
- DM#15 Jack Boddington (2000) †
- DM#16 Jeffrey B. Floyd (2002)
- DM#17 Norman G. Gooding (2002)
- DM#18 Douglas W. Boyce (2003) †
- DM#19 Barry C. Weaver (2005)
- DM#20 Charles P. McDowell (2006)
- DM#21 Dean S. Veremakis (2010)
- DM#22 Douglas M. Peck (2010)
- DM#23 Harry H. Bendorf (2012)
- DM#24 James K. Hitch (2012)
- DM#25 Richard A. Flory (2013)
- DM#26 Melvin D. Mueller (2015) †
- DM#27 William K. Emerson (2017)
- DM#28 Thomas J. Nier
† Member now Deceased
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL (DSM) – The DSM may be awarded to a member for an extraordinary achievement or for a particularly distinguished period of service to the Society. To justify the award of the Distinguished Service Medal, the achievement or period of service must be far above normal expectations and have materially contributed to the success of the Society. Approval requires a majority vote of the Board.
OMSA Distinguished Service Medal Recipients:
- J. Robert Elliott (1985) †
- John E. Lelle (1985, 1988, 2000) †
- Lee E. Bishop, Jr. (1989) †
- Albert M. Shaw (1990)
- Jack Boddington (1994) †
- Albert F. Gleim (1994) †
- Steven G. Haskin (1998)
- Charles P. McDowell (2000)
- Barry C. Weaver (2000)
- Harry H. Bendorf (2001)
- Douglas W. Boyce (2001) †
- Alexander J. Laslo (2002) †
- Douglas M. Peck (2003)
- Richard A. Flory (2004, 2011)
- David L. Riley (2004) †
- Dean S. Veremakis (2005)
- James K. Hitch (2009)
- John W. Royston (2010) †
- Melvin D. Mueller (2011) †
- Nathan Weiss (2011, 2018)
- Frederic L. Borch (2012)
- Bill Emerson (2012)
- Steven E. Watts (2012)
- Steven E. Watts (2017)
- Chris Cawthorne (2018)
- Peter Lomdahl (2019)
† Member now Deceased

OMSA Meritorious Service Medal Recipients:
- Del E. Bassetti (1985) †
- Steven G. Haskin (1985, 1989, 2014)
- Kenneth G. Hope (1985)
- Paul T. Kaparoff (1985, 1989)
- Cornelius B. Tyson (1985, 1988) †
- Albert M. Shaw (1985, 1988)
- Albert F. Gleim (1986, 1992) †
- Charles P. McDowell (1987, 2016)
- John B. Hayward (1989)
- John M. A. Tamplin (1989) †
- J. Robert Elliott (1992) †
- Paul Peters (1994) †
- Frank C. Brown (1996) †
- Terry Carlson (1996)
- David C. Foster (1996) †
- M. Ralph Lauro (1996) †
- Edward F. Murphy (1996)
- Roger J. Sullivan (1996, 2001) †
- Peter Hlinka (1996)
- Robert T. McNamara (1996) †
- Gary M. Hartman (1997) †
- Anthony R. Margrave (1997)
- Barry C. Weaver (1997)
- Lawrence H. Borts (1998)
- Joe D. Bryant (1998)
- Jeffrey B. Floyd (1998)
- Michael J. Shepherd (1998)
- Ronald E. Fischer (1999, 2006)
- Robert H. Reynolds (1999) †
- David L. Riley (1999) †
- Dean S. Veremakis (1999)
- Nathan S. Weiss (1999, 2006)
- Timothy G. Culbert (2000)
- Alexander J. Laslo (2000) †
- Clyde L. Tinklepaugh, Jr. (2000, 2003)
- Dan Farek (2001)
- Virginia S. Medlen (2001) †
- James C. Risk (2001) †
- C. Peter Mulder (2002) †
- Clyde L. Tinklepaugh, Jr. (2002)
- Richard A. Flory (2003)
- Melvin D. Mueller (2003, 2009)
- Thomas J. Nier (2003)
- E. Gale Hawkes (2004)
- John W. Royston, Jr. (2004, 2008) †
- Steven E. Watts (2004)
- Chris E. Cawthorne (2006, 2007, 2011, 2014)
- Robert B. Gill (2006)
- Peter Helmore (2006) #
- Diana Birch (2007) †
- William K. Emerson (2007)
- James K. Hitch (2007)
- David Winther (2007)
- David Rucker (2008) #
- George S. Notarpole (2009)
- Richard A. Glass (2010)
- John Allgood (2011, 2019)
- Peter S. Lomdahl (2011)
- Timothy A. Bartholow (2013)
- Samuel Lee Graves (2014)
- Steven G. Haskin (2014)
- Jeffrey B. Floyd (2016)
- Irvin L. Mortenson (2016)
- Joseph J. Hardman (2017)
- Charles C. Freihofer III (2018)
- Charles A. (Skip) Pfeiffer (2018)
- Phillip C. Mussell (2019)
† Member now Deceased
# Non-OMSA Member
COMMENDATION MEDAL (CM) – The CM may be awarded to a member for a particular act or period of service that has significantly benefited the Society and of a nature more deserving than recognition by a Certificate of Merit but less than required for the award of the Meritorious Service Medal. Approval requires a majority vote of the Board.
OMSA Commendation Medal Recipients:
- Frederic L. Borch (2000)
- David L. Cabral (2000)
- Jeffrey B. Floyd (2000, 2004, 2011)
- Arthur H. Houston (2000)
- Kenneth R. Johnson (2000) †
- Vicken Koundakjian (2000)
- Russell J. Malloch (2000)
- Robert H. Reynolds (2000, 2004) †
- Adam E. Rohloff (2000)
- John W. Royston (2000) †
- Dean S. Veremakis (2000)
- JoAnn G. Williams (2000)
- George S. Notarpole (2001)
- Charles P. McDowell (2002, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2014)
- Mike Quigley (2002)
- Barry C. Weaver (2002)
- Edwin T. Wheatly (2002) †
- Alex Bendyna Jr. (2003)
- Richard A. Glass (2003)
- Gary M. Hartman (2003) †
- Carol Nichols Turner (2003) #
- Guyon W. Turner (2003)
- George N. Wilhelmsen (2003)
- Mary Rose Cassa (2004)
- Edward J. Emering (2004, 2005, 2007)
- Irvin L. Mortenson (2004, 2011, 2013) †
- Robert G. McPherson (2004)
- Charles A. Pfeiffer (2004)
- Robert V. Gantner (2005)
- William K. Emerson (2005, 2013)
- Paul C. Wallace (2005)
- David Winther (2005)
- Eric Bush (2006)
- John L. Liffiton (2006)
- Edward S. Haynes (2007)
- Melvin D. Mueller (2007)
- Michael B. Riley (2007)
- Peter Eisert (2008)
- Charles Oellig (2008)
- Douglas W. Boyce (2009) †
- Colburn L. Grabenhorst, Jr. (2009, 2010)
- Francois Dutil (2009)
- Steven Ackley (2013)
- Richard A. Flory (2013, 2014)
- Clyde L. Tinklepaugh, Jr. (2013)
- Lawrence M. Watson (2014)
- Murray A. Louis (2015)
- Peter Helmore (2015) #
- Graham Pitchfork, MBE (2015) #
- Ernest J. Fischer II (2016)
- Ronald E. Fischer (2016)
- Frank P. McGovern (2016)
- Timothy A. Bartholow (2018)
- Richard R. Lussier (2018)
- James Murray (2018) †
# Non-OMSA Member
LITERARY MEDAL (LM) – The Literary Medal Selection Committee, appointed by the President, annually reviews the previous years’ JOMSA articles and make LM award recommendations for no more than three articles. In addition, the committee will review OMSA monographs, medal notes and other deserving publications written by OMSA members and make LM award recommendations.
The articles and publications must be so thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and ground-breaking in content as to clearly set them apart from other published articles and publications. Approval requires a majority vote of the Board.
OMSA Literary Medal Recipients:
- Lee E. Bishop, Jr. (1985, 1992) †
- Todd Wheatley (1985, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999) †
- Anthony R. Margrave (1985, 1996)
- Kurt G. Kleitmann (1985) †
- Jack Boddington (1985, 1990, 1994) †
- Stephen Donoghue (1985)
- Frank C. Brown (1985) †
- Daniel J. Farek (1985)
- Igor V. Vicotrov-Orlov (1985, 1994)
- Ian A. Millar (1986, 1987, 1988)
- Charles P. McDowell
(1986, 1988-92, 1994, 2009, 2016-17) - Gary A. Mitchell (1986, 1992)
- John E. Lelle (1987, 1992) †
- A. Raymond Kroulik (1987, 1989)
- Robert H. Reynolds (1988) †
- Douglas W. Boyce (1989) †
- Brian G. Cannon (1990)
- Albert F. Gleim (1990) †
- Barry C. Weaver (1990, 1997, 2004)
- J. Robert Elliott (1991) †
- William R. Westlake (1991)
- Jack A. Meyer (1991)
- George T. Banister (1991)
- Albert M. Shaw (1991)
- James R. Sirmans (1991) †
- Vicken Koundakjian (1992, 1995 – 2 awards, 1996)
- Charles A. Hunter (1992) †
- Ronald E. Fisher (1992, 1994, 1995)
- Thomas E. Lifka (1992)
- Gary M. Hartman (1993) †
- Thomas J. Nier (1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2015, 2019)
- Irvin L. Mortensen (1993) †
- Richard C. Harrison (1994) †
- Frederic L. Borch (1995-2 awards, 1997,
2001, 2003-15, 2017-8) – 19 awards - Arthur H. Houston (1995, 1996)
- Paul L. T. Kua (1995, 1996, 1998)
- Frank E. Smith (1996)
- Kurt A. Stauffer (1996)
- Janez Svajncer (1996)
- John P. Mull (1996)
- Sergui Tsapenko (1996)
- Edward J. Emering (1997, 1998 – 2 awards)
- Gerald J. Gallagher (1997)
- Oliver L. Julien (1997)
- Charles H. Pankey (1997, 2007, 2016)
- Douglas D. Scott (1997)
- William K. Emerson (1998, 2005, 2006)
- T. Owain Raw-Rees (1998, 2000, 2002-3,
2005-6, 2011, 2014) – 8 awards - Dwyer Q. Wedvick (1998)
- Andreas M. Schulze-Ising (2001)
- Edward S. Haynes (2002, 2014, 2018)
- Larry J. Redmon (2002)
- MichaelThomason (2002)
- Chris Cawthorne (2003)
- King Cheung Bassanio Kwok (2004)
- David Benoit (2005)
- Dragomir Baldescu (2007) #
- Paulo Jorge Estrela (2007)
- Daniel E. Speir (2007)
- David Schwind (2008)
- George N. Wilhelmsen (2008)
- Russell Furtado (2009)
- Lukasz Gaszewski (2009, 2013)
- Humberto Nuno de Oliveria (2009)
- Kenneth N. Rogers, Jr. (2009)
- Eric M. Tripnaux (2010)
- Steven Carr (2011, 2012)
- Allen Menke (2011, 2012)
- Timothy L. Brown (2012)
- Lonnie Borts (2013) †
- Richard A. Flory (2013 – 2 awards)
- Graham Wilson (2014) †
- Gavin Goh (2015-17) – 3 awards
- Lloyd Brodrick (2016)
- Peter Verstraeten (2016)
- Richard Catalano (2018, 2019)
- Rana T.S. Chhina (2018) #
- Kevin A. Beyer (2019)
- Gregory Ogletree (2019)
† Member now Deceased
# Non-OMSA Member
COLONEL ALBERT F. GLEIM MEMORIAL MEDAL (GM) – The Colonel Albert F. Gleim Memorial Medal may be awarded to a member for extraordinary services rendered to the Society or, more commonly, for the best convention exhibit of US medals and decorations.
- George N. Wilhelmsen (2004) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Ronald E. Fisher (2005) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Brandon T. Wiegand (2005) — Special US Award
- Charles A. Pfeiffer (2006) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Lawrence Watson (2007) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Frederic L. Borch (2007) — Special US Award
- George N. Wilhelmsen (2008) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- George N. Wilhelmsen (2009) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Thomas R. Malhosky (2010) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Douglas M. Peck (2011) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Russell Furtado (2012) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Melvin D. Mueller (2013) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Alvin Friedman (2014) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- George Wilhelmsen (2015) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- George Wilhelmsen (2016) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Tim Bartholow (2017) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Gary A. Mitchell (2018) — Best US Exhibit of the Year
- Tim Bartholow (2019) — Best US Exhibit of the Year

- George Wilhelmsen (2011) – The Norwegian War Cross
- Graeme McLeod (2012) – Out of Africa
- George Wilhelmsen (2013) – The Norwegian King Haakon VII’s Freedom Medal (Frihetsmedalje) from 1945 to 1949 and 1988 to 1989
- John McEwen (2014) – Decorations, Badges and Medals of the First Republic of Austria
- Joe Hardman (2015) – Gefreiter Richard Kniehl, R.I. Regt. 240
- Tim Bartholow (2016) – The Order of the Sacred Treasure of Japan
- George Wilhelmsen (2017) – The Norwegian War Medal (Krigsmedaljen) for World War II
- Joseph Hardman (2018) – France – Order of Liberation
- George Wilhelmsen (2019) – Norwegian King Haakon VII’s 70th Birthday Medal