MLA Fellows

Throughout its history, the Medical Library Association (MLA) has consistently sought to honor individuals who have made exceptional contributions to further the vision, values, and mission of the association. For many decades, the term “Honorary Member” was utilized for this purpose. In 1976 MLA introduced a distinction to recognize both members and non-members who had significantly enriched the association. Two categories were created:

  • MLA Fellows are members and elected by the Board of Directors for sustained and outstanding contributions to health sciences librarianship and to the advancement of the purposes of MLA. Fellows may use “FMLA” following their names.
    • See the complete listing of Fellows and Honorary Members (prior to 1976) for selected biographical information that illustrates each Fellow’s contributions to MLA. 
  • Honorary Members are individuals who are not regular members of MLA. They are also elected by the Board of Directors for sustained and outstanding contributions to health sciences librarianship and to the advancement of the purposes of MLA.

MLA Fellows  

Criteria

  • Nominee must be a current Regular member of MLA and must have held Regular or Institutional membership for at least fifteen (15) years prior to the nomination for Fellowship. (see below)
  • Nominee must possess an ALA-accredited MLS, or Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) accepted post-baccalaureate degree.
  • Nominee must have at least ten years of professional experience in health information science.
  • Nominee must have five or more years of notable leadership in MLA, demonstrated by one or more elected or appointed offices in the national MLA as a committee, task force, or board member; or one or more elected or appointed offices in an MLA caucus or chapter; or a position as an elected or appointed officer in an allied national association such as ALA, SLA, HeSCA, etc.
  • Nominee must have demonstrated outstanding achievement as evidenced by a highly significant contribution to the goals of the association in a relatively short period of time; or durable achievement by a sustained level of commitment to the goals of the association over a long period of time.
  • Nominee must have demonstrated significant scholarship as evidenced by publication of one or more refereed publications in the area of health sciences librarianship; teaching or development of a course over a sufficient period of time for professional recognition of subject expertise; or research documented by grant funding, publication, or invited presentation of a paper.
  • Nominee must have garnered a professional reputation as evidenced by letters of support or commendation from professional colleagues; being cited by colleagues in the literature; or evidence of adherence to the MLA Code of Ethics.

 Nominations 

  • Nomination form, including all supporting documentation, must be completed no later than December 6.
  • Nominations are accepted from the membership-at-large and from members of the Fellowship and Honorary Members Jury.
  • Nominations should include documents or web links verifying the criteria noted above, plus any other pertinent information regarding suitability of the nominee for Fellowship.
  • Up to three letters of support may be included with the nomination. 
  • Nominee’s MLA membership history may be confidentially confirmed by contacting MLA Member Services.
  • “Model” Nomination Portfolio – this sample serves as a guide to what the jury expects to use for considering nominees for this prestigious honor.

Ready to Submit a Nomination?

The nomination must be completed, and all supporting documents uploaded no later than December 6..

Applications are open!
Open: September 5, 2024
Ending: December 6, 2024

Apply Now!

Applications are currently closed. Check back later.

Past Recipients

  • 2024
    • Chris Shaffer
  • 2023
    • Julia Esparza
    • Stephanie Fulton
    • Gale Hannigan
  • 2022
    • Jonathan Eldredge
    • Linné Girouard
    • Shannon Jones
  • 2021
    • Kristine Alpi
    • Teresa Knott
    • Janna Lawrence
    • Linda Walton
  • 2020
    • Michelle Kraft
  • 2019
    • Dolores Judkins
    • Michele Klein-Fedyshin
    • Amy Lyons
    • Priscilla Stephenson
    • Michele Tennant
  • 2018
    • Patricia E. Gallagher*
    • Elaine Martin
    • Gerald Perry
  • 2017
    • Jane Blumenthal
    • Vicki Croft
    • Sandra Franklin
    • Brenda Faye Green
    • Paula Raimondo
  • 2016
    • Barbara Epstein
    • Helen-Ann Brown Epstein
    • Donna Flake
    • Janice Kelly
    • Michael Kronenfeld
  • 2015
    • Cheryl Dee
    • Terry Jankowski
    • Beverly Murphy
    • Tovah Reis
    • Julia Shaw-Kokot
  • 2014
    • Judy Burnham
    • Prudence Dalrymple
    • Carolyn Lipscomb
    • Joan Stoddart
  • 2013
    • Ana Cleveland
    • Jo Dorsch
    • T. Scott Plutchak
    • Nancy Roderer
    • Laurie Thompson
  • 2012
    • Susan Lessick
    • Kathleen McKibbon
    • Kay Wellik
  • 2011
    • Trenton Boyd
    • Karen Butter
    • Lynn Fortney
  • 2010
    • Margaret Allen
    • Shelley Bader
    • Margaret Bandy
    • Mark Funk
    • Connie Schardt
  • 2009
    • Holly Buchanan
    • Gary Byrd
    • Logan Ludwig
    • Jean Shipman
    • M.J. Tooey
  • 2008
    • Suzanne Grefsheim
    • Betsy Humphreys
    • Linda Markwell
    • Lenny Rhine
  • 2007
    • Nancy Clemmons
    • Kathryn Hoffman
    • Sheldon Kotzin
    • Diane McKenzie
    • James Shedlock
    • Patricia Thibodeau
  • 2006
    • Karen Brewer
    • Janet Fisher
    • Nunzia Giuse
    • David Morse, FMLA*
    • Mary Ryan
  • 2005
    • Julie McGowan
    • Kent Smith
    • Julia Sollenberger
    • Linda Walton
    • Linda Watson
    • Gail Yokote
  • 2004
    • Thomas Basler
    • Carole Gilbert
    • Henry Lemkau
    • Faith Meakin
    • Diane Schwartz
  • 2003
    • Jana Bradley
    • Rosalind Dudden
    • Sherrilynne Fuller
    • J. Michael Homan
    • Frieda Weise
  • 2002
    • Jacqueline Doyle
    • Beryl Glitz
    • Ruth Holst
    • Joanne Marshall
    • Jocelyn A. Rankin*
  • 2001
    • Carol Burns
    • June Fulton
    • Carol Jenkins
    • Joan Zenan
  • 2000
    • Virginia M. Bowden, AHIP, FMLA*
    • Roy C. Johnson, FMLA*
    • Janet Minnerath
    • Kathleen Moeller
    • Wayne Peay
    • Ada Seltzer
  • 1999
    • Jo Anne Boorkman
    • Dottie Eakin
    • Rick Forsman
    • June Glaser
    • Judith Messerle
  • 1998
    • Doris Bolef
    • Alison Bunting
    • Eloise Foster
    • Mary Horres
    • M. Sandra Wood
    • Nancy Zinn
  • 1997
    • William K. Beatty*
    • Frances Groen
    • Erika Love*
    • Fred W. Roper, AHIP, FMLA*
    • Jo Ann Wootten
  • 1996
    • Marion Ball
    • Jacqueline D. Bastille*
    • Robert Grant Cheshier*
    • Sara Jackson
    • Jane Annis Lambremont*
    • Jacqueline Picciano
  • 1995
    • Rachael Anderson
    • Albert Berkowitz
    • Robert Braude
    • T. Mark Hodges*
    • Phyllis Mirsky
    • Harriett Steuernagel*
    • Pat Walter
  • 1994
    • Virginia H. Holtz*
    • Nancy M. Lorenzi, PhD
    • Richard Lyders
    • Nina Matheson
    • Madeline Taylor
  • 1993
    • Susan Crawford
    • Gwendolyn Cruzat
    • Eugene Garfield, PhD*
    • C. Huang
    • Cecile E. Kramer*
    • Lucretia W. McClure, AHIP, FMLA*
    • Judith Topper
  • 1992
    • Gertrude Lamb*
    • Marjorie Bernice Wannarka*
  • 1991
    • Colin William Fraser*
    • Thomas Higdon
    • Rose Hogan*
    • Jean K. Miller*
    • Ronald M. Watterson*
  • 1990
    • David Bishop*
    • Alfred N. Brandon*
    • Charles W. Sargent, PhD*
    • Phillip Rosenstein*
  • 1989
    • Naomi C, Broering*
    • Frances Lyon
    • Ann Hodge Macomber*
    • Jess Martin
    • Minnie S. Orfanos*
    • Irwin H. Pizer*
  • 1988
    • Vern M. Pings*
    • John A. Timour*
  • 1987
    • Gilbert J. Clausman*
    • Irene Graham
    • Barbara Coe Johnson*
    • Gerald J. Oppenheimer*
    • Ursula H. Poland*
  • 1986
    • Mayo Drake*
    • Samuel (Sam) W. Hitt*
    • John A. Isché*
    • E. Jean Antes Pelley*
  • 1985
    • William S. Budington*
    • Martin M. Cummings, MD*
    • David A. Kronick*
    • Erich Meyerhoff*
    • Joan Staats*
    • #N/A
  • 1984
    • Alice D. Ball*
    • James W. Barry*
    • Lois Colaianni
    • Frederick G. Kilgour*
    • Miriam Hawkins Libbey*
  • 1983
    • Joseph Leiter, PhD*
    • Robert Lentz*
    • Robert Lewis*
    • Priscilla M. Mayden, AHIP, FMLA*
    • Beatrix H. Robinow*
  • 1982
    • Alice Dunlap*
  • 1981
    • Estelle Brodman, PhD*
    • Elliott H. Morse*
  • 1980
    • Doreen Fraser*
  • 1979
    • Emilie Wiggins
  • 1978
    • Scott Adams*
    • Sarah C. Brown, AHIP, FMLA*
    • Louise Darling*
    • Myrl Ebert*
    • Anne E. Kerker
    • Mildred Crowe Langner*
    • Hilda Moore*
    • Winifred Sewell, DSc*
    • Donald Washburn (DDS)*
  • 1977
    • M. Irene Jones*
    • Kelly McGuffin West*
    • Helen T. Yast*
  • 1976
    • Harold J. Bloomquist*
  • 1975
    • Wesley Bright Draper*
    • Helen Kovacs*
    • Frank Bradway Rogers*
  • 1974
    • Helen Crawford*
    • Pauline Duffield
    • Jacqueline Felter*
    • Bernice M. Hetzner*
    • William D. Postell Sr.*
  • 1973
    • Thomas P. Fleming*
    • Thomas E. Keys*
  • 1971
    • Isabel T. Anderson*
    • Gertrude Annan*
    • Wilma Troxel*
  • 1967
    • Elisabeth D. Runge*
  • 1966
    • Bertha Hallam*
    • Ida Marion Breed Robinson*
  • 1964
    • Sanford V. Larkey, MD*
    • Chauncey D. Leake, PhD*
  • 1961
    • Marjorie J. Darrach*
    • Edith Dernehl*
    • William Shainline Middleton, MD*
  • 1960
    • Eileen R. Cunningham*
    • Janet Doe*
    • Mary Louise Marshall*
    • L. Margueriete Prime*
    • Irene M. Stieby Shreve*
    • Ernest Wickersheimer (MD)*
  • 1958
    • William C. Balfour, MD*
    • William W. Francis, MD
  • 1956
    • Donald Church Balfour, MD*
  • 1953
    • Mary E. Irish*
  • 1952
    • Sue Biethan*