This year the USCAP Presidents Award goes to Mr. Jim Crimmins, the Administrator and Meeting Manager of the USCAP Office in Augusta, Georgia in recognition of his very long-standing dedication, and commitment to excellence. Over the years the members of the Academy, and their officers, have recognized the tremendous contributions of this superb Augusta staff. Multiple surveys have shown one of the great strengths of the Academy has been its highly efficient and effective Augusta office. The Augusta office certainly serves its membership and our profession well.

Originally, the part-time staff of the USCAP was culled from wherever the Secretary-Treasurer of the USCAP was located (i.e., the office of the USCAP under Dr. Kash Mostofi was therefore located in Washington DC at the AFIP). When Dr. Leland Stoddard was Secretary-Treasurer (1970-1979) the office moved to Augusta, Georgia (and the Medical College of Georgia). After Dr. Stoddard’s retirement as the USCAP Secretary-Treasurer, a USCAP Committee comprised of Drs. Murray (Gus) Abell, Jack Layton, Nate Kaufman, and Jack Strong met at the Chicago Airport in 1978 to determine where the full-time office should be; the decision of Augusta was made, and in retrospect was an outstanding decision. The full-time Augusta office was established in 1979. Many other cities/sites were considered but Augusta was selected as the site because the USCAP office was already there and the costs were relatively inexpensive. Jim Crimmins had been working with the USCAP on a part time basis and agreed to accept a full time position as Administrator, thus providing continuity to the Academy’s functions. He was soon joined by Jo Ann Johnson and Carolyn Lane and they have served the Academy extremely well for a combined 80+ years!

Jim Crimmins was born in Streator, Illinois, but lived many places as his father was a career army officer. He settled in Dwight, Illinois for his high school years. After high school he then attended Northern Illinois University (“The Huskies”), where he met Phoebe, was on the University Golf Team, and obtained a degree in accounting (“accounting always seemed easy” to him)(and he could get a job in it!). Although working his way through college, he was noted to be a good student, and graduated with high honors. He had a “two year army” career (as a “25 year old draftee” as he says) in Vietnam (Quinhon) as an internal auditor. After his career in the army, because they loved the South, Jim and his wife Phoebe moved to Augusta and began work as an Internal Auditor and then a Special Projects Director, and then Assistant Dean for Business Affairs at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). It was there that he met Dr. Leland Stoddard (Chairman of the Department of Pathology at MCG and Secretary/Treasurer of the IAP/USCAP) in 1971 and began a 9 year “moonlighting” career as a Financial Consultant helping the Academy with their accounting requirements. In 1979, Jim left his position as Assistant Dean for Business Affairs (under Dean Fairfield Goodale, a member of the Academy, and former jet pilot in the war) to begin full time with the USCAP as our Meeting Manager and Administrator. Jim’s highly efficient manner and work-ethic, as well as his tremendous support to all Academy members, is a thing of “legend”. Jim has also set a record for attending Finance, Education, Executive, and Council meetings that may never be surpassed! He was also the score-keeper of the famous Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta for 36 years, being score keeper for the Third Hole for the last twenty years. He thus was allowed to play the Augusta National for over three decades!). Jim Crimmins with Jo Ann Johnson have, for 23 years, sent a great amount of USCAP Educational Materials to 26 underserved Divisions/countries) of the IAP including 8 Divisions/countries in South America, 4 in Central America/Caribbean, 10 in Europe and 5 in Asia). Recently these altruistic endeavors by Jim and Jo Ann have even increased more with support of other countries/Divisions and the Friends of Africa-USCAP Initiative to help our pathology colleagues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Jim Crimmins was also instrumental in making our IAP Centennial Congress (our 100th Anniversary of the IAMM/IAP!) hosted in Montreal by the USCAP a major success (an all-time record number of attendees and scientific abstracts).

Jim and Phoebe are very involved in their Presbyterian Church and Jim serves his church as an Elder. His hobbies include golf, traveling and fine dining! Jim Crimmins is the ultimate family man, with his wife-beautiful Phoebe, former First Grade school teacher, and their two children–Stephen (in a PhD/doctoral program in Neuroscience at University of Alabama/Birmingham School of Medicine having just published a paper as first author in the Journal of Neuroscience on “Transgenic rescue of ataxia mice with neuronal-specific expression of Ubiquitin-Specific Protease14"), and Megan, pursuing her Masters Degree in Public Administration (with a major interest in the public sector) in Athens (i.e., The University of Georgia). Both are socially-aware, outstanding students and individuals with an intense interest in helping others.

WHAT USCAP/IAP LEADERS SAY ABOUT JIM CRIMMINS:
Dr. Harvey Goldman, Past President of the USCAP and North American Vice President of the IAP talks of Jim: “For the longest time, the go-to man with the beeper, in total command of lights and rooms and handouts (now extinct). Also, always the charmer–don’t worry–the room will be big enough, it won’t stay that cold (or hot), the projectionist will come, the pointer will work, etc. But most of all, the especially pleasant presence, with the lovely Phoebe, the only man who could find the Black Ram!! (better ask Harvey Goldman about that one!).

Dr. Jack Strong, Past President of the USCAP and the IAP: “I have worked with Jim Crimmins for many years both the USCAP and the IAP. He has had a critical role as Assistant Treasurer in the IAP working with Dr. Lee Stoddard until Dr. Stoddard’s untimely death. When I as Chairman of the Finance Committee was asked to take over as Treasurer, I only accepted the position afer having it confirmed that Jim Crimmins would continue as Assistant treasurer and do even more in this role in Augusta as I am stationed in New Orleans. In later years as I became Chairman of the Finance Committee of the USCAP, he and I have worked together to maintain the financial integrity of the Academy. We all should appreciate how very much he has done for the USCAP, but my main wish is for him to continue working with me in the IAP. He is much more than a colleague to me, he is my friend.”

Dr. David Hardwick, IAP Secretary and Past President of the USCAP and IAP indicates: “Jim Crimmins reminds me somewhat of the “Energizer Bunny”. “He just keeps on going and going and going”. Over the past more than 3 decades that I have known and worked with him, he has tirelessly animated the Academy through ensuring that every detail of the organization’s funding and operation has been dealt with. I’m sure glad that he has agreed to keep on going and going and going in his retirement–only now with the (overall) IAP.

Dr. Henry Appelman, President of the USCAP: “Before I became involved in the inner workings of the USCAP, formally known as the IAP, I was vaguely aware of this man who appeared to lurk in the background at every annual meeting, seemingly wandering from venue to venue, looking into every facet of the activities. No one told me who he was or what he was doing. Then, in the early 90s, when I became a member of the Education Committee, I discovered that this lurking man was Jim Crimmins, and I also discovered that all of our activities were totally dependent on his administrative genius. Now I know why and how our annual meetings have progressed so smoothly, and why the lecture halls and conference rooms, and audiovisual capabilities, and even the wine and cheese have been the best possible. It was Jim Crimmins, who, in his unbelievably capable and understated manner made this organization move from meeting to meeting and from year to year possible. There are so many chances that we have to work with incompetent people, and so few chances that we have to work with the cream of competent people. The USCAP has been not just fortunate, but blessed to have had the incredible fortune to have had Jim Crimmins taking such good care of us for so long. Honoring him with the President’s Award was a no-brainer.”

Dr. Stephen Vogel, former Secretary/Treasurer of the USCAP: “I, too, have been guilty of ambling through the displays of fresh fruit and vegetables at farmers’ markets, sampling some at bargain prices, yet unmindful of the individual who bore the primary responsibility for their assemblage. In the world of pathology, for more than forty years, a single individual has fulfilled this role for the betterment of science and medicine. On this occasion, I would like to recognize him, by offering my heartfelt thanks to Jim Crimmins.”

Dr. Bernard Wagner, Past President of the USCAP: “Jim Crimmins and I go back to the neolithic period of the IAP. We have enjoyed and suffered together, just look at our scars. Jim was a steadfast friend and counselor who helped me ascend the ladder at USCAP. He was never too busy for a phone call or a totally irrelevant question. His genes for patience, good manners, wisdom and love of USCAP will hopefully pass to his successors. For me, Jim is “Mr. USCAP”.”

Dr. Cecilia Fenoglio-Preiser, Past President of the USCAP: “Jim was also patient and cheerful about late syllabi. Cheryl and I were always late with our syllabi for the molecular courses, sometimes bringing it to the headquarters after the meeting had started! He would smile and then scramble. He also was always there after we mopped up the last of the meeting following the predeparture conference. Mostly he was always an enormous help no matter how large or small the task. He will also take all these wonderful attributes to his new job with the IAP.”

Dr. Fred Silva, Present EVP-USCAP: “Jim is a tireless, extraordinarily efficient and effective, honorable and loving individual. He is tireless in his job, working virtually every weekend in addition to the weekdays for the Academy. He has a “farmer’s work ethic” and never complains about the three simultaneous jobs (Administrator, Meeting Manager, CFO) that he holds. The Academy (both USCAP and IAP) is what it is because of this individual. As they say: “if you seek his monument, look about you”.

Dr. Nathan Kaufman, Former Secretary/Treasurer of the USCAP: “A few lines cannot do justice to my expression of thanks for the contribution Jim made to the administration and well-being of the USCAP. His background and personality prepared him well for the complex challenges facing the development of the new administrative structure of this organization. He was an “army brat”, served in the army during the Vietnam war, worked as an accountant in one of the very large and well known accounting firms, and then to Augusta where he was the Assistant Dean of Finance at the Medical College of Georgia. There, he dealt with a large faculty of teachers, scientists, clinicians, and departmental chairman with a wisdom and fairness that won their respect, praise and goodwill. With this background and a cooperative, non-flappable, tolerant and likeable personality he was just the right person to be the first Administrator for the USCAP efficiently serving Council, Faculty and Membership in the most evenhanded and cooperative manner. May he and Phoebe have many happy and fulfilling years as they enter a new life together in retirement.”