Dr. John de Jong, 2018-19 AVMA president, named the 2019 recipients of the AVMA President's Award at AVMA Convention 2019 this August in Washington, D.C. This award recognizes individuals or groups for making a positive impact on health, veterinary organizations, or the profession.

This year's recipients are Dr. Mark Lutschaunig (Pennsylvania '88), director of the AVMA Government Relations Division; Dr. Joseph H. Kinnarney (Cornell '80), an AVMA past president and current chair of the AVMA Trust; and Isham R. Jones III, AVMA general counsel. Below, Dr. de Jong describes why he chose the recipients.

Dr. Joseph H. Kinnarney
There are few individuals who have had an involvement during most of their veterinary career in serving their Association and colleagues like Dr. Joe Kinnarney. However, his service to the AVMA actually started even before that as the national Student AVMA president. He then went on to serve in the House of Delegates as our vice president, on the Board of Directors, and then as our national president. His unselfish dedication and love of the profession has never wavered, and he has always been a gracious servant leader. Not ready to end his service to our members, Dr. Kinnarney answered the call of trust and faith in his leadership to chair the transition of our two trusts into a single new trust entity that provides some of our greatest member benefits and more.