Ronald D. Nichols, B.S., C.C.P.

                The Wisconsin Perfusion Society (WPS) Board of Directors has recently approved, by unanimous vote, two major changes that will impact perfusionists from outside the state of Wisconsin.  These perfusionists will now be potentially eligible for the Service Awards which are given in recognition of 25 years in the profession and in 5 year increments after that.  A totally new award has been created, called the James W. Cooksey Western Great Lakes Award, which will be given to a pre-selected out of state member each year.

In order to qualify for the Service Award a Class C member must meet 3 rules of eligibility.  First, a total of 4 years of membership is required.  These years need not be consecutive and the current year will count.  Second, the member must be pre-registered for the current annual meeting.  Clearly, time is required to create these awards and the responsibility lies with the member to let us know with sufficient warning that they wish to receive this recognition.  Third, the member must tell us the year they began in the profession (please include years of perfusion training) on their pre-registration form.

The Cooksey Award recipient will be selected by the Awards Committee members each year.  It is hoped that they will find a candidate that expresses an affinity to the WPS, one that wishes to educate all of our members, and one that possesses skills in perfusion that they can share.  No direct money will accompany this award and the recipient must agree to come and address our annual meeting.

The WPS is very pleased to be able to extend their strong existing award program.  Many more members are now eligible for our highly prized Service Awards and we are confident that our meetings will gain a huge lift from the presentations of the Cooksey