Award of Merit

Introduced at Acacia's Golden Anniversary celebrations in 1954, the Award of Merit is one of Acacia's highest honors. It is given to "brothers who have given of their time and substance unstintingly for the promotion and furtherance of Acacia, both nationally and locally, and brothers who have rendered outstanding service in their chosen fields, and have attained high position therein, thus exemplifying the motto of Acacia, ‘Human Service’, and the teachings of the fraternity, which constantly admonish our members to prepare themselves as educated men to take a more active part in their communities."

Click here for information about nominating a member for the Award of Merit.

Unknown Year
John O. Bronson, Mississippi State
Vonus L. Ellis, Miami of Ohio
Steven A. Gamble, Georgia
Philip W. Cramer, Ohio State
Mark A. Christiansen, California

1954
Roscoe Pound, Nebraska
Lloyd V. Berkner, Minnesota
Pembroke H. Brown, Illinois
Herschel L. Washington, Kansas
Harry A. Finney, Northwestern
Ned H. Dearborn, Columbia
Robert C. Lewis, Colorado
Walter W. Kolbe, Northwestern
Roy C. Clark, Northwestern
David A. Embury, Columbia
Willard A. Knapp, Purdue
Robert C. Bradley, Cornell
George E. Nitzsche, Franklin
Lloyd H. Ruppenthal, Kansas

1958
Dr. Nathan D. Harwood, Kansas State
Vernon D. Foltz, Kansas State

1962
William E. Krieger, Illinois
Charles A. Sink, Michigan
Ernest R. Ringo, Michigan
Harvey R. Amos, Southern California
William S. Dye, Penn State
John A. Lunsford, Colorado
Edward B. Meriwether, Chicago
Thomas E. Warring, Indiana
Lester G. Ruch, Indiana
Frank H. Reinsch, UCLA
Walter R. Kolbe, Iowa State
Paul A. Gilman, New Hampshire
George E. Condra, Nebraska
Francis H. Case, Northwestern
Oliver N. Bruck, Texas
Keller E. Beeson, Purdue
Thomas M. Herman, Michigan
Theodore H. Tapping, Michigan
Norman C. Saatjian, Long Beach
Marion H. Huber, Cincinnati
Frank M. Holloway, Texas
Marvin W. Logan, Iowa
Delmer M. Goode, Minnesota
George Elmer Ekblaw, Illinois
C. Lenton Sartain Jr., Louisiana State
Raymond E. Bivert, Oklahoma State
George F. Patterson, Cincinnati
Edwin J. Taylor, Ohio
Lafayette W. (Pete) Knapp Jr., Cornell

1964
Luther A. Smith, Southern Mississippi
Harvey A. Miller, Michigan
Wallace N. Jamie, Southern California
William B. Dexter, Washington
Ray C. Thomas, Indiana
Nugent E. Fitzgerald, Missouri
James E. Webb, North Carolina
Judge Homer Thornberry, Texas
Herbert P. Wagner, Michigan

1966
Darrel S. Metcalfe, Iowa State
William R. Hockenberry, Franklin
Henry L. Stevens, New Hampshire
Christopher K. Gabriel, Oregon State
Harvey L. Logan, Long Beach
Jesse B. Beaird, Jr., Oklahoma

1968
Frank H. Mendell, Iowa State
George E. Frazer, Wisconsin
William L. Walker, Nebraska
Leonard E. Wood, Kansas State
Bertram D. Thomas, Washington

1969
Audrey A. Potter, Kansas State

1970
Roy F. Miller, Washington
G.K. Nelson, Penn State
Irving M. Field, Missouri
Henry L. Kibler, Indiana
Fred B. Morris, Cornell
James H. Ferguson, Indiana

1972
Edwin P. Kohler, Penn State
Ralph V. Hoffman, Illinois
Calvin O. Hultman, Iowa State
Thomas W. Ayton, Wisconsin

1974
Herbert R. Alcorn, Missouri School of Mines
Thomas E. Bolman, Miami of Ohio
Joseph F. Reed, Long Beach
Jacob P. Wegmuller, Iowa
Evert F. Lindquist, Iowa

1976
Lester N. Liebel, Washington State
Richard T. Albagli, Rensselaer
John W. Black, Penn State
David B. Williams, Illinois Wesleyan
Oliver T. Joy, Nebraska

1978
Fred W. McPeake, Tennessee
H. Keith Sawyers, Iowa State
David J. Allen, Indiana
George C. Crooks, Vermont
Clarence R. Jacoby, Shippensburg
Paul P. Ashley, Washington
David J. Williams, Washington

1980
W. Thomas Nelson, Jr., Purdue
John F. Hoffner, Purdue
Dan A. Hildebrand, Nebraska
Lawrence L. Wisdom, Kansas State
James T. Hall, Vermont
W.M. Wingren, California
Dallas M. Gandy, Central State Oklahoma

1981
John Robert Stevenson, St. Cloud State
Jon S. Fuerstneau, Minnesota
Larry B. Forsland, Minnesota

1982
Donald W. Solanas, Jr., Louisiana State
Daniel V. Albano, Illinois
Markham C. Wakefield, Indiana
Arthur D Lautzenheiser, Indiana
C. Thomas Lechner, Penn State
Harold E. Edgerton, Nebraska

1984
Marvin E. Rothhaar, Ohio State
W.G. Pinnell, Indiana

1986
Scott M. Valley, Washington State
Jed W. Morris, Washington State
Otto W.Schrader, California
Wayne H. Holtzman, Northwestern
Ray S. Erlandson, Wisconsin
C.F.K. Cole, Texas
Captain Duncan McPherson, California

1987
Fredrick C. Garrott, Illinois
Clive Follmer, Illinois

1988
Stanley C. Acree, Oklahoma State
Clifton K. Hillegass, Nebraska

1990
Richard L. Heino, Wyoming
John J. Zentgraf, Shippensburg
James E. Bieber, New Hampshire
Orval M. Conner, Nebraska
L. Craig Fulmer, Indiana
Darold W. Larson, Washington State

1991
James C. Showacre, Cornell

1992
Robert Keith Hampe, Washington State
Ronald T. Hopkins, Syracuse
John H. Nourse, Ohio State
Robert L. Marshall, Miami of Ohio
William A. Utic, Cornell

1993
John R. Moser, Miami, Miami of Ohio

1994
Robert E. Jepson, Kansas State
Mark R. Guidry, Louisiana State
James O. Richardson, Indiana
Ronald E. Carter, Indiana
David A. Luecke, Miami of Ohio
Nolan G. Crawford, Miami of Ohio
Daniel F. Bassill, Illinois Wesleyan

1995
Jay H. Geshay, Purdue
Max F. Spaulding, Indiana
Richard E. Ford, Indiana
Larry J. Kelly, Indiana

1996
Dr. L. Dennis Smith, Indiana
Brian C. Montgomery, Miami of Ohio
Scott J. Houston, Indiana
George C. Woolsey, California

1997
William J. Gammie, Washington State
Joseph A. Lowe, California

1998
Christ Drossos Jr., Indiana
Michael P. Fillman, Western Ontario
Gerald C. Cook, Shippensburg
John B. Lane, Vermont
Paul M. Vos, Purdue

1999
Keith M. Bushey, Indiana
J. Scott Cleland, Ohio

2000
George A. Levesque, Carleton
James L. Ernette, Franklin
John W. Wedgwood, Purdue
Hal D. Hanes, Indiana
Roger A. Nealis, Indiana
Phillip M. Zook, Indiana
Larry E. Schroeder, Georgia
Douglas F. Trumbower, Penn State

2002
Dean R. Blanken, Colorado
William J. Mollere, Louisiana State
Dean A. Huprich, Ohio
J. Dennis Bassett, Kansas State
R. Daniel Wilkes, Iowa

2003
William M. Riley, Kansas State
Harry A. Spencer, Nebraska
William C. Hasting, Nebraska

2004
R. Earl Snapp, Cincinnati
John Beering, Purdue
Dewayne Ullsperger, Nebraska
Jeffrey Jordan, Ohio State
Christopher Carpentier, Indiana
Craig Johnson, Louisiana State
Steven L. Stein, Cornell

2005
David Loren Day, Ohio
Kevin R. Cheesebrough, Penn State
Joseph John Lundy, Penn State
Edward S. Knight, Texas
Robert E. Roberson, Illinois Wesleyan
Leonard W. Kearney, Oregon State
Thomas J. DeRue Jr., Indiana

2006
Samuel B. Unger, Kansas State
Daniel D. Bayston, Illinois
Maximilian J.B. Hopkins, California
John B. Pugh, Iowa State
Frank Douglas Staley Jr., Indiana
Harold D. Zarr, Iowa State

2007
James L. McFarland, Wisconsin
Michael A. Blood, Illinois Wesleyan
Phillip T. Wilson, Illinois Wesleyan
Melvin W. Rapp, Illinois

2008
Brian S. Downs, Central Oklahoma
Thomas J. Balcerski, Cornell
Arthur E. Mertes, Illinois
David S. Baum, Indiana
James N. Reichard, Louisiana State
Corey S. Oakley, Ohio
Martin T. McKnight, Oregon State
Barry F. Baxter, Texas
John H. Peper, Texas

2009
Stewart L. Burger, Cornell

2010
Matheau P. Luers, Indiana
John C. Barber, M.D., Purdue
Gary J. Haag, Kansas State
Gregory J. Owen, Carleton
Zilmon Smith, Texas

2011
Robert L. Carstens, Iowa State
Carl J. Denbow, Ohio
George B. Jackson, Penn State
Patrick W. McGovern, Indiana

2012
Edward A. Cunnington, Minnesota
Jeremy N. Davis, Iowa State
Michael A. Duncan, Illinois
Dr. David R. Fischell, Cornell
Larry B. Forsland, Minnesota
Bern B. Hughes, Michigan
Scott H. Meyer, St. Cloud State
Robert W. Mickam, Texas
Kenneth M. Renslow, St. Cloud State
Lucas D. Shivers, Kansas State

2013
Brian R. Durst, Wisconsin
Richard S. Rasmussen, California

2014
Bradon S. Nelson, Kansas State
Brian C. Nelson, Kansas State
Michael A. Pastko, Purdue
Art Stein, Purdue
Anthony D.J. Phillips, Carleton
Donald W. Sabo, Washington
Stephen J. Scalise, Louisiana State
Byron A. Tabor, Iowa
Andrew Stout, Cal Poly

2015                                                            
Robert Travnicek, M.D., Kansas
James Katsaounis, Ohio

2016
Jeffrey Lindauer, Indiana
Lamar Tims, Texas
Scott Graham, Penn State
Martin Liphardt, Nebraska
Amos Meyers Jr., Shippensburg
Ron Mitchell, Colorado
Dallas Nelson, Kansas State
Aaron Morrow, Iowa

2017
James Davis, Iowa State
Luke Lamprecht, St. Cloud State
Brian Strayer, Ohio State

2018
Steve Aves, Illinois Wesleyan
Shawn Morgan, Iowa
Stephen Lappin, Texas
Herb Andrews, Penn State
Steve Etter, California of Pennsylvania
Dave Cremer, Ohio State
Kenneth Schwab, Purdue
Michael S. Weber, Iowa State
William M. Thornton, Ohio State

2019
Andrew Jee, Oregon State
Kevin T. May, Wisconsin
David L. Ferguson, Indiana

2020
Michael C. Tu, California
Dominick F. Impastato III, Louisiana State
Kris R. Lutt, Nebraska
Jeffrey T. Boaz, Illinois Wesleyan
Ron Gebhardtsbauer, Penn State
Michael J. Oakes, Indiana

2021
Richard I. Williams, Grand Valley State
Michael L. Rollins, Washington
David R. Quick, Rensselaer
Randolph K. Shoup, Indiana
Aaron P. Darcy, Indiana
Alan B. Scher, Wisconsin

2022
Steven B. Cutshall, Purdue
Guy G. Gebhardt, Illinois Wesleyan
Robert M. Terrell, Illinois State
Richard A. Cone, Iowa State
Neil H. Woodley, Iowa State
Blake J. Hutchison, Wisconsin
Jacob A. Sundquist, St. Cloud State
Dwyte E. Brooks Sr., Northwestern
Alan K. Leahigh, Illinois Wesleyan
Eric S. Muff, Nebraska
Terrance A. Ruona, Louisiana State

2023
William C. Andrae, Wisconsin
Phillip S. Sutton, Ohio State

2024
Jeffrey A. Dalton, Oregon State
Aaron J. Golem, Carleton
Aaron B. Kellenberger, Ohio
Ronald S. Majer, New Hampshire
Nicholas A. Seibold, Iowa State
Arlo E. Sommers, Ohio State
Benjamin B. Turconi, California