Virginia Kennedy Palys, JD
Ms. Palys has served as executive director of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians (ICEP) for more than three decades. Her leadership of ICEP’s advocacy, practice management, EMS and continuing education efforts has strengthened the chapter and helped it grow to more than 1,300 members. She also serves as executive director for International Trauma Life Support (ITLS), the only prehospital trauma education program endorsed by ACEP. Each year, she travels with physician leaders to launch and encourage ITLS training initiatives. Some of the program’s newest international sites include Dubai, Portugal, England, and Malta.

W. Calvin Chaney, JD, CAE
Mr. Chaney was ACEP’s general counsel and associate executive director for policy and administration for nearly 22 years. Mr. Chaney developed policies and procedures that have provided key protections for the College and other medical societies with whom he shared them. He created ACEP’s state legislative office, working closely with state chapters to form political action committees, hire lobbyists, hold legislative days in their state capitols, and transform members into advocates. Mr. Chaney also managed the College’s ethics complaint process and spearheaded 18 successful Leadership and Advocacy Conferences. He also oversaw ACEP’s interaction with the American Medical Association. In 2008, Mr. Chaney was elected president of the American Association of Medical Society Executives.

Outstanding Contribution in EMS Award

James V. Dunford Jr., MD, FACEP
Dr. Dunford is an emeritus professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the EMS medical director for the city of San Diego—a post he has held since 1997. From 1980 to 1986, he flew aboard the San Diego Life Flight helicopter. He founded the UCSD emergency medicine residency. Dr. Dunford led the development of San Diego’s regional systems of care for sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, and stroke and helped create the San Diego Serial Inebriate Program. In 2008, he harnessed health information technology and care management to create the San Diego Resource Access Program to better serve frequent 911 callers. He has served as coinvestigator on numerous National Institutes of Health studies. He currently serves as principal investigator for a community paramedic pilot project in collaboration with the California EMS Authority.

John G. Wiegenstein Leadership Award

Angela F. Gardner, MD, FACEP
Dr. Gardner is associate professor and chief of operations and quality for the department of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. She has served Texas College of Emergency Physicians in every leadership position. As president in 2003, she led the chapter’s successful fight for professional liability reform in Texas. In recognition, she received its highest honor: the James E. Hayes Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Gardner has been equally effective for national ACEP. She worked to develop the ACEP Report Card, the Emergency Medicine Action Fund, and the “Give-A-Shift” campaign supporting NEMPAC.

Outstanding Contribution in Education Award