Purpose of the IAEM Awards Program

The Purpose of the IAEM Awards Program is to recognize and honor people and organizations that have made special or significant contributions to the field of emergency management and have represented the profession well by their outstanding performance.

IAEM-USA Award Presentations

The awards will be presented at the President’s Banquet and Awards Ceremony on Nov. 20 at the 72nd IAEM Annual Conference & EMEX in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Following the presentations, visit this page to see the the full awards booklet.

Announcing the 2024 Award Recipients

Programmatic Awards

• Emergency Management  Education and Training Award: Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe and their Resilience Training Initiative (Blue Lake, California)
• Preparedness Award: Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management Model EOC Summer 2024 (Sonoma, California)

• Technology and Innovation Award: NC State University Emergency management and Mission Continuity (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Public/Private Sector Awards

• Business and Private Sector Integration and Public Sector Partnership Award: Civil Air Patrol, Ready OP

Individual Awards

• Emergency Management Educator of the Year: William Schlosser (Pennsylvania University System)
• Emergency Manager of the Year: Thomas Walmsley (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
• Rising Star Award: Dr. Kesley Richardson (Bradenton, Florida)

Lifetime Achievement Awards

• Career Excellence Award: Dr. Bob Ditch (Mesa, Arizona)
• Clayton R. Christopher Memorial Award: Mark Ihrig (Boone County Emergency Management, Kentucky)

Student Awards

• Student Advocate of the Year: Alvia Galang (San Jose, California)
• Student Chapter of the Year: Jacksonville State University (Jacksonville, Alabama)
• Student of the Year: Brittany Giles-Jones (Stone Mountain, Georgia)

Volunteer Awards

• Voluntary Organization of the Year: Civil Air Patrol

Uniformed Service Awards

• USC Auxiliary Emergency Manager of teh Year: Col. Jack Ozer (Civil Air Patrol, Raleigh, North Carolina)
• USC Civilian Emergency Manager of the Year: Kenneth Jones (U.S. Coast Guard, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina)