In July 2023, we changed our name from AACC (short for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry) to the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM). The following page was written prior to this rebranding and contains mentions of the association’s old name. It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
1971 Outstanding Contributions in Education
A highlight of the 23rd National Meeting was the first presentation of the the AACC Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry through Education, sponsored by Smith Kline and French Co., to Alex Kaplan. The award, consisting of a $1000 honorarium, was bestowed on an extremely busy man. Currently President of AACC and Co-Chairman of the 23rd National Meeting in Seattle, Dr. Kaplan served from 1964 to 1969 as a member of the AACC Education Committee, and was its chairman for the last two years of that period. The first postdoctoral training program in clinical chemistry, supported by the National Institutes of Health, was established by Dr. Kaplan at the University of Washington. The success of this program encouraged the NIH to support other pre- and postdoctoral programs in clinical chemistry.
He has been a director on the American Board of Clinical Chemistry since 1967 and is a member of the Board of Editors of Clinical Chemistry. Both positions are dedicated to up-grading and furthering the education of clinical chemists, and demonstrate the broad scope of educational activities which the award is intended to cover.
Although he was born in New York, Dr. Kaplan moved to California at an early age, receiving his B.A. degree from UCLA and Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the AACC and his membership in professional organizations includes the FASEB, AAAS, ACS, ACLPS, and the Council on Atherosclerosis of the American Heart Society.
He has been associated with the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory of Mt. Zion Hospital and with the Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, California, and the Michael Reese Hospital and Research Institute, Chicago, Illinois. Since 1960 he has been at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he is presently Director, Chemistry Division, at the University Hospital and Harborview Medical Center, and Professor in the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Biochemistry.
1971 AACC Past President’s Award