Doug Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award
Doug Fletcher was a nurse, therapeutic humor advocate and AATH member. Doug inspired people to come together and build a strong network of health and humor professionals dedicated to exploring and developing therapeutic applications of humor. AATH and the world of therapeutic humor lost Doug in a fatal car accident May 1, 1998. Through this award, AATH recognizes and honors both Doug Fletcher and those whose work follow in his tradition.
In an effort to simplify and clarify the major AATH awards (the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Doug Fletcher Award, a.k.a. "The Dougie"), the board recently voted to restructure, rename and combine the two awards into one. The new name is (drum roll, please): The Doug Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award.
The primary award criteria shall be as follows:
- The award may be presented to one, two or more deserving individuals each year at the annual conference. However, the Awards Committee may also decide not to give out the award in any given year if, in their discretion, there are no deserving candidates nominated.
- The award can be presented to either a member or a non-member.
- The award may recognize;
- dedication and service to AATH, and/or
- a significant contribution to the understanding and application of humor and/or laughter over an entire career with a definable body of work through one or more of the following:
- speaking
- teaching/training
- research
- publications
- professional practice
- The Awards Committee shall determine who receives the award(s). However, as a courtesy, the committee shall inform the board of their decisions, as there may be financial factors to be budgeted.
- Self-nominations will not be accepted.
AWARD NOMINATIONS
The AATH Awards Committee announces its Call for Nominations for the "Doug Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award" to be presented at the AATH Annual Conference in February. The award is open to both members and nonmembers. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Nominations must be received by September 30.
Please submit your nomination of up to 500 words (2 pages double-spaced), addressing all of the criteria referenced above. Send via e-mail as an attachment to the AATH office at: staff@aath.org .
- Nominee name & contact info:
- Your name & contact info:
- 500 word nomination:
The nomination may be faxed to 949-715-6931 or mailed to AATH, 65 Enterprise, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656.
The Doug Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award
This award presented to either member or non-members in recognition of:
- dedication and service to AATH, and/or
- a significant contribution to the understanding and application of humor and/or laughter over an entire career with a definable body of work through one or more of the following: speaking, teaching/training, research, publications, professional practice.
2008 Doug Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Honoree:
Rod Martin
When it comes to understanding the psychology of humor, Rod Martin Ph.D. knows of what he speaks! He has recently published The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach , which provides a comprehensive review of humor research in all areas of psychology. A professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, Martin has authored nearly 50 scholarly journal articles and book chapters on this topic. He has also developed several tests for measuring aspects of the sense of humor, which have since been translated into numerous languages and have been used by researchers around the world. Martin is the current President of ISHS - the International Society for Humor Studies. Please join us in recognizing the impressive body of work in humor studies contributed by this year's award recipient, Rod Martin.
2006 Doug Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Honoree:
C.W. Metcalf
At our 2006 annual conference in Austin, Texas, AATH recognized C.W.
Metcalf with our association's highest honor - the Doug Fletcher Lifetime
Achievement Award. It is with great sadness that we report the passing
of C.W. Metcalf in June, 2007. AATH and the therapeutic humor field
have lost a good friend.
C.W. lived the mission of AATH. An innovator and pioneer in the field of therapeutic humor, his book "Lighten Up" is essential to any complete humor collection. C.W. coined the phrase "terminal seriousness" and his famous words "Take your work seriously but yourself lightly" have been quoted the world over. C.W. was a one-of-a-kind personality who positively impacted thousands and thousands of people during his lifetime and helped people of all ages cope with trauma, stress and "terminal professionalism."
C.W. believed that real survivors overcome crises with resilience, fluidity, optimism and humor, remaining creative, healthy and productive under the pressures of uncertainty. Need proof? Look no further than Metcalf himself. In 1996, he overcame a less than 2% chance of recovery from brain surgery. And in the latter months of 2003 when he faced leukemia, Metcalf's infectious personality and positive personal philosophy won out again. C.W. absolutely loved speaking and adored his audiences. The days he spent with AATH in Austin have left an indelible image in our hearts.
Previous Award Winners:
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Given to someone who has made both a significant contribution to the discipline of therapeutic/applied humor and to AATH.
2005 Ed Dunkelblau, PhD
2004 Karyn Buxman, RN, CSP, CPAE
2003 Kathy Passanisi, PT, CSP, CPAE
2002 Patty Wooten, RN
2001 Vera Robinson, RN EdD
2000 William Fry, MD
Doug Fletcher Award
Given to someone who has had a significant impact on society through humorous performances and/or promotion of humor.
2002 Too Live Nurse
2001 Steve Allen, Sr.
2000 Jerry Lewis
1999 Patch Adams, MDAATH Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement
Created to recognize those who have contributed to our knowledge and understanding of the many roles humor plays in our lives. Because of the very nature of the subject, it is difficult sometimes for the researcher to be taken seriously, and therefore, to get adequate funding and support. It is hoped that this award will help give the individual recipients, as well as the field of Humorology, the recognition they so richly deserve.
1989 Dr. Lee Berk
1988 Dr. Avner Ziv
Dr. Ziv is a widely
published author, the founder of the International Conference on
Jewish Humor, and a visionary. His dream is to build a center
for humor research in a university setting, which would have a
collection of humor books, articles, papers and dissertations on
humor, all to help facilitate the productive, therapeutic use of
humor.
His acceptance speech centered around the story of how he became interested in researching humor. During one of the many wars Israel has had, a team of researchers was called upon to study the effects of the stress on the children at various Kibbutzim. Ziv was one of the researchers.
After all the psychological tests had been administered and calculated, they found that two of the Kibbutzim had children who were experiencing far less stress than any of the others, even though the number of bombings near them was the same. Upon investigation, they found that at both sites the children clung to an older child (approximately 13-14 years old), and that in each case, the so-called “magnet child” had a quality completely overlooked by the researchers: a sense of humor. “He makes me laugh—even when the bombs are dropping,” one girl told Ziv.
“I started to study the values of humor during stress because of the war. But now the war is over, and I keep studying it – I just can’t stop myself,” he told the audience.
September 24,
1988
Toronto, Canada
1st Annual Meeting of AATH held concurrently with the Laughter & Play Conference
