General Section Award Information and Nomination Information

The General Section is accepting nominations for the Paul W. Kehres and John R. Hunt awards to be presented at the 2027 AAFS conference. All nominations must be emailed to the General Section Awards Committee Chair, Bryan W. Brendley, at bbrendley@methodist.edu by August 15, 2026. The criteria are listed below for your convenience.

John R. Hunt Award:
This award is intended to recognize sustained superior contributions to the General Section, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the forensic science community.

1. Must be a Fellow of the General Section for the last consecutive three (3) years when this award is bestowed; and
2. Must have attended a minimum of 50% of the section business meetings in the past six (6) years; and
3. Must have presented a scientific paper, poster session, participated as a 
   presenter in a joint or plenary session, breakfast or luncheon seminar, or workshop within the past five (5) years; and
4. Must have authored a forensic-related article accepted for publication in the Journal of Forensic Sciences or other peer-reviewed journal; and
5. Should have served in an elected position within the section, in an official AAFS capacity for at least one (1) year, as a committee chair for the General Section for at least one (1) year, or as a member of a committee(s) for at least three (3) years; or
6. In the absence of one of the above section or AAFS activities (criteria (2), (3), (4), or (5)), potential candidates shall have made a significant contribution to the forensic science community that may not be reflected by specific section or AAFS effort.

Paul W. Kehres Meritorious Service Award:
This award is intended to recognize a General Section Trainee Affiliate, Student Affiliate, Associate Member, Member, or Fellow for exceptional service to the General Section. This service may include but not be limited to:

1. Performance of section responsibilities under extremely adverse conditions, or
2. Service to the section far above and beyond that which would normally be expected, and/or communicating and implementing particularly inspirational ideas that particularly benefit the section.

The Robert "Bob" Thibault Award
This award exemplifies the qualities of its namesake as being selfless, committed, dedicated, service-oriented, and a leader. This service may include but not be limited to:

1. The recipient, like Bob Thibault, must have shown great devotion to the General Section, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and to forensic science in general by placing the needs of others ahead of personal interest, promotion, and adulation. The success of the forensic science community is dependent upon the "Bob Ts" who find their rewards in the success of others. The recipient has displayed these qualities, bringing honor to him/herself, the General Section, and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
2. The Robert "Bob" Thibault Award is to be given annually to recognize an individual in the General Section who has worked behind the scenes for the good of the General Section. The recipient of this award should exemplify the qualities of its namesake — a selfless, committed, service-oriented leader who has continually shown great devotion to the General Section and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
3. Nominations are made by the section chair, section secretary, and Board of Directors Representative and submitted to the Board of Directors Representative. The nominees will be vetted by the Board of Directors Representative to ensure they meet the award criteria. A vote will occur from the three (3) officers to select an award winner.

The Robert C. Gaffney Achievement Award
This award is given to promote continual professional growth in the forensic sciences and technologies and to encourage 
new forensic science professionals in their occupational specialties. 

Criteria

1. Any Trainee Affiliate, Associate Member, or Member of the General Section (excluding Student Affiliates) is eligible for this award, provided 
   they have not been a member of AAFS for more than four (4) years or attended their first AAFS annual conference within four (4) years of the application; and
2. Member has, with an intent to compete for this award, proffered a paper at the General Section scientific session or poster session during the year in which they are being considered for the award.

Self-Nomination

1. Papers in competition must be proffered by August 1 of the year 
   prior to paper presentation.
2. During abstract submission, the member must self-nominate to be considered for this achievement award.
3. The program chair will determine eligibility for the award with assistance from the AAFS Membership Coordinator.

Scheduling

1. The program chair will make every effort to group papers in
2. The program chair will provide the awards committee chair with abstracts of proffered papers in September of each year.

Evaluation

1. The awards committee will request additional information/draft copies of proffered papers, as it deems appropriate.
2. Abstracts of the candidates' papers will be provided to the awards committee panel of judges.
3. The awards committee will select a panel of judges to be present and judge the papers when presented. The following criteria will be included in an Achievement Award Judges Evaluation Form used to judge papers when presented.
   1. Relevance to the forensic science specialty
   2. Innovation/scientific merit
   3. Analytical approach
   4. Quality of presentation
4. The winner will be selected before the end of the AAFS Annual Conference.
5. The section chair will announce the winner and formally notify the winner of the selection and the recognition that will be forth-coming.

Recognition

The winner will receive:

1. Complimentary basic registration to the next AAFS Annual Conference including a ticket to the section annual luncheon,
2. Formal recognition in the Academy Newsfeed and at the next annual business meeting.
3. A plaque and a stipend of $250.
4. When there are multiple presenting authors, each winning presenting author shall receive a crystal award (up to a maximum of two (2) crystal awards per paper), the stipend shall be divided equally among the presenting authors, and only one (1) complimentary conference registration and one (1) complimentary ticket to the section luncheon will be awarded per paper.

NOTE: Total monetary recognition will not exceed $600.