Fred H. Rodriguez, Jr., MD, FASCP, a past president of the ASCP, is being honored with the 2009 ASCP Israel Davidsohn Award for Distinguished Service. The award recognizes an ASCP Fellow who has made a significant contribution to the Society by participating in a variety of roles throughout his or her career.

The award will be presented at the ASCP Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, on Saturday, October 31 at 11:45 a.m. in room Chicago 10.

In 2005-2006, Dr. Rodriguez was president of the ASCP. During his tenure, the Society stepped to the forefront in the global fight against AIDS, became an approved provider of cytology proficiency testing and education, and moved to its new headquarters. Also, discussions were initiated concerning the unification of the ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) with the National Credentialing Agency. Prior to his year as president, Dr. Rodriguez served as vice president, secretary, and member-at-large on the board of directors.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Rodriguez has presented various workshops and seminars for the ASCP. He served on the ASCP BOC Board of Governors for eight years. Also on behalf of the BOC he helped to develop the qualification program in flow cytometry, served as acting chair for the Council of Committee Chairs meeting in 1999, and was honored with the 2001 ASCP BOC Distinguished Service Award for his many years of service with the BOC.

Dr. Rodriguez also served on the ASCP Advisory Council and as an assistant editor of LabMedicine. In 2004, Dr. Rodriguez served as the ASCP representative to the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) Futures Conference. This year, he served on the ASCP Commission on Public Policy and Government Relations.

Dr. Rodriguez is the Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the VA Medical Center in New Orleans, LA. He is also Professor of Pathology and Medical Technology at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. In January 2002, he was appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC, to serve as the National Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He held this position until February 2008. In 2005, he was appointed the Emma Sadler Moss Professor of Pathology at LSU.

He and his wife Susan are the parents of four children and have two granddaughters.

Several other awards will be presented at the 2009 ASCP Annual Meeting.