Awards and Grants of the American Burn Association

Curtis P. Artz Distinguished Service Award
This award is presented annually to a non-physician member of the American
Burn Association for his/her outstanding contributions in the burn field. This
first award was presented in 1977, and was originally called the Associate Award.
It was later changed to the Curtis P. Artz Distinguished Service Award to
memorialize Dr. Curtis P. Artz for his lifelong dedication to the well being of the
burn patient and the support of all others who could contribute to that goal in
the clinical, didactic, and research spheres. His interest in the organization and
provision of burn care arose during his years as a member of the surgical staff at
the U.S. Army Burn Center (USAISR). As the Commander of the Institute (1953-
56), Dr. Artz organized representatives of all the disciplines involved in the care
of burn patients as a burn team and ensured that physical therapists, occupational
therapists, research dieticians, and social workers as well as nurses and
physicians were included as indigenous staff members of the burn center. Dr. Artz
was one of the original members of a group of physicians who met annually at the
National Burn Seminars, the antecedents of the annual meetings of the ABA. Dr.
Artz appreciated the importance of rapidly disseminating the information
presented at such meetings to others involved in burn care. Accordingly, he led the
movement to found the American Burn Association with a membership that
would ensure involvement of all members of the burn team. Dr. Artz’s seminal
involvement in burn care included not only his service as the Commander of the
U.S. Army Burn Center but the development of burn centers at the University of
Mississippi, the University of Texas Medical Branch, and the Medical College of
South Carolina. His commitments to the multi-disciplinary burn team as a means
of accelerating improvement in burn care and optimizing outcomes constituted a
major component of his professional career, established his preeminence in the
field of burn care both nationally and internationally, and benefited all burn
patients. In 1974, Dr. Artz was presented with the Harvey Stuart Allen
Distinguished Service Award, which ironically he instituted in 1969.
The award provides complimentary Annual Meeting registration and hotel
accommodations; complimentary coach airfare for the recipient and spouse or
guest; an engraved medal and honorarium of $2,000; and the option of honorary
rather than dues-paying membership in the ABA.
2013 Amy R. Acton, RN, BSN
2012 Patricia W. Gillespie, RN, BSN,
MS
2011 Lynne C. Yurko, BSN, RN,
NE-BC
2010 David R. Patterson, PhD
2009 R. Scott Ward, PhD, RPT
2008 Michele M. Gottschlich, PhD
2007 Leslie E. Robson, RN, MS
2006 Mary D. Gordon, RN, MS
Past Artz Award Recipients
2005 Verna J. Cain, RN
2004 Rosemarie Thompson, RN, MS,
CNS
2003 In Memory of Marilyn E. Jenkins,
RN, MBA
2002 Ian Alan Holder
2001 Reginald R. Richard, MS, PT
2000 Barbara Kammerer-Quayle, MA
1999 Cora K. Ogle, PhD
1998 Judith A. Carr, OTR/L