The National Cheese Institute is now accepting nominations for its highest honor, the NCI Laureate Award, which will be handed out at a special ceremony during Dairy Forum 2012.


The National Cheese Institute is now accepting nominations for its highest honor, the NCI Laureate Award. The award winner will be recognized at a special ceremony during Dairy Forum 2012, which takes place Jan. 15-18, 2012 at the La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, Calif. Nominations must be submitted by Nov. 4. There is no fee to enter.

Candidates should be business or academic leaders who have made significant, prolonged contributions to the development and growth of the cheese industry. The award recipient is chosen by a panel of industry professionals based on a nominee's overall career achievements.

"The U.S. cheese industry continues to be driven by leaders who dedicate themselves to quality cheesemaking and innovation," says Connie Tipton, president and CEO of NCI and the International Dairy Foods Association, the Washington, D.C.-based sponsor of Dairy Forum 2012. "We look forward to recognizing and rewarding those individual contributions with the presentation of the 2012 award."

In the past, winners have ranged from cheese company founders and marketers to dairy microbiologists. Previous winners of the NCI Laureate Award include Emanuele (Lino) Saputo, Mark Johnson, Jerome Schuman, Larry Ferguson, John Jeter, Mark Davis, Wes Allen, Elmer Marth, Max Gonzenbach, Rudy Nef, Betsy Holden, Don Menzner, Don Storhoff, Lester Kielsmeier, Hans Epprecht, Norm Olson, Vince Zehren, Jack Budahn, Leonard Gentine Sr., Raymond Goldbach, Harold Steinke, John Nelson and Dave Nusbaum.

This year's winner will receive free registration, airfare and hotel accommodations to IDFA's Dairy Forum. IDFA's Dairy Forum is widely regarded as the most important conference of the year for dairy processors, producers, suppliers and policy makers.

For more information and a nomination form, contact Tracy Boyle, IDFA director of boards and employee relations, at tboyle@idfa.org or visit www.idfa.org.