Awardee Les Slaback
Awardee Les SlabackABHP Chair Carl Distenfeld with Awardee Les Slaback
ABHP Chair Carl Distenfeld with Awardee Les Slaback
Recipient Remarks

Les Slaback, CHP

Thank you. I'm overwhelmed by this award. When I look at the previous recipients of the William McAdams Award (John Healy (89), H. Wade Patterson (90), Richard Bowers (91)), I'm even more overwhelmed. This is truly illustrious company.

After being told of this award I took some time to look back over my 16(!) years of involvement with ABHP activities. I consider those to be some of the best and most rewarding of my career. The people I've worked with, and the things we have accomplished have been rewarding in every sense of the word.

The essential nature of ABHP activities is that they are the work and product of many. Clearly the cited accomplishments are not mine, but collectively those of the many people with whom I have worked. I cannot begin to list all those from whom I have learned so much, and won't for the obvious reasons.

I consider every year a gift and every person I've worked with a friend. And many of you are here and had a direct hand in this. I thank you again, both for this award and your efforts in nominating me for it.

And I do not understand why the Academy is not flooded by candidates demanding their fair share of time on the panels and the board. I feel like a thief for all the time I've had, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. Time spent on the various ABHP panels is an experience not to be missed. The wealth of the Academy is in the excellence of its membership. Having serviced one year reviewing renewal applications I know first hand just how outstanding this collection of people are. I urge you all to find time to get involved.

Lastly, I would like to point out that 50% of the McAdams Award recipients are accelerator HPs, so I fully expect that this will be reflected in the content of the exam next year.

Note: Those who were present at the Academy meeting might recognize that these notes are only an approximation of what I said. And they are only a token of my gratitude for this award.