The Emmett Leahy Award

Application Content, Format, and Submission

The Emmett Leahy Award Application consists of two stages. The first stage involves nomination. Any individual who has had a major impact on the field of records and information management is eligible to be nominated. Nomination letters should be sent electronically to Charles Dollar, Chair of the Leahy Award Committee (charles@emmettleahyaward.org) by February 1, 2010. Nomination letters should succinctly (no more than two pages) and clearly identify the significant contributions the individual has made to the information and records management profession that meet the criteria for the Emmett Leahy Award. The Emmett Leahy Award Committee, which consists of the previous ten recipients and is solely responsible for the selection of Emmett Leahy Award recipients, will review nominations and invite nominees who meet the Award criteria to submit formal applications. Please note that the Emmett Leahy Award is not presented posthumously.

The second stage involves invited nominees submitting a formal application that is organized along the following lines.

Part 1: An Introductory Overview

The application should consist of an introductory narrative essay of no more that 1200 words, covering at a high level, the points outlined in the selection criteria. The introduction should describe your contribution to the records and information management profession and how your contribution has had a major impact on both the profession and records and information management professionals.

Part 2: Detailed Accomplishments

This section should provide more detail on each of the criteria listed above, with particular emphasis on how you and your participation in these activities have made a difference to the profession of records and information management.

The Committee looks specifically at the IMPACT of the activities, not just generalized outcomes. For example, if a nominee is an author, how many copies of the publication have been sold and how is it being used? How has the idea that you developed resulted in changes to the profession? How is this impact measured? The Committee is looking for specific accomplishments rather than testimonials

Application Format

• The applicant's photo must accompany the original application.
• The application should be no more than 20 pages long and should include a table of contents.
• Text should be double-spaced.
• Exhibits, such as brief published articles, may accompany the application if they can be submitted electronically.
• The following may be mentioned in the text but should NOT be included:
  • Manuals
  • Reports
  • Studies
  • Other lengthy documents
• Letters of recommendation are not required and should not be submitted.

Where additional material is required, the Committee will contact the applicant directly.

Application Submission

The application should be submitted by e-mail transmission and document attachment (in either Microsoft Word or PDF format). The applicant's photograph may be sent via postal mail if it cannot be scanned into a file as an e-mail attachment. Completed applications should be sent to charles@emmettleahyaward.org. The application must be received by April 15, 2010..

The Emmett Leahy Award Committee will meet in June to review the formal applications and select the 2010 recipient.

Follow up questions may be directed to Charles Dollar electronically (charles@emmettleahyaward.org) or by telephone (662) 236-2479 or (662) 832-2123.