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 It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
1993 Outstanding Contributions through Service to the Profession of Clinical Chemistry
Gerald E. Gallwas will receive the 28th annual award, sponsored by Instrumentation Laboratory.
Jerry Gallwas is the Director of Program Management at the Diagnostics Systems Group of Beckman Instruments. He was graduated with a B.S. in chemistry from San Diego State University, with a major interest in instrumental methods of analysis. In 1964, he joined Beckman Instruments in a customer support role, later becoming a member of the original team that founded Beckman Diagnostics in 1967.
Soon after Beckman released the first bench-top glucose analyzer, and the Food and Drug Administration announced its intention to regulate the diagnostics industry, Gallwas began to appreciate the synergistic opportunity that existed between the clinical chemistry profession and government and industry. He therefore worked within the committee structures of AACC, the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS), and the Health Industry Manufacturers Association. With Dick Nadue and Russ Eilers, he worked to build the NCCLS into a major force in clinical chemistry. These efforts led to discussions with members of the College of American Pathologists on expanding their Product Evaluation Committee activities on the verification of manufacturers’ advertising claims.
In 1974, Gallwas, together with Donald Young and Earl Scherago, put together a plan that resulted in the publication of Clinical Chemistry News. Gallwas was also instrumental in establishing the Arnold O. Beckman Conference in Clinical Chemistry series, designed to bring greater synergy between clinical chemistry and medicine.
Gallwas served as a member of the Board of Directors of NCCLS for 10 years and was President from 1982 to 1984. Although he has recently curtailed his professional service activities to focus on the Beckman Diagnostics business, he has taken a number of special assignments, the most recent of which was to facilitate the development of the AACC strategic plan. “Seeing AACC recognize its potential in serving the emerging needs of laboratory medicine worldwide is an exciting prospect,” he says. “Management of new diagnostic technologies is the key to the future.”