The 2023 ARP President’s Awards

SAN DIEGO—During ACR Convergence 2023 in November, the ACR and the ARP honored a group of distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and patient care. This month, The Rheumatologist profiles the recipients of the ARP President’s Awards.

The ARP president can choose to honor ACR/ARP members or teams performing outstanding service within the present year to advance the ARP’s goals, ideals and standards. Then-ARP President Kori Dewing, DNP, ARNP, ANP-C, honored the five members of the ARP Governance Task Force with the 2023 President’s Award.

Dr. Dewing, a rheumatology nurse practitioner and affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington School of Nursing, Seattle, talked with The Rheumatologist about the process she employed to select the recipients of the 2023 President’s Award:

“Choosing this awardee(s) is one of the highlights [of the ARP presidency]. However, when it came down to actually making a decision, I found it daunting. As a previous award winner many years ago, I still remember the surprise and joy when I heard the news. There is no rubric to help score possible awardees—and I am a professor. I live by my rubrics! Instead, there is only a description that states ‘the ARP President’s Award is awarded to the ACR/ARP member or team performing outstanding service within the present year in advancing the goals, ideals and standards of the ARP.’

“At an ARP Executive Committee meeting, I asked for counsel, requesting nominees from the pool of volunteers the members had worked with this year. I came away with an impressive list of passionate, driven volunteers who each had done phenomenal work this year in their own committees, helping serve the needs of our members. Although each was deserving of the award, I still struggled to make a decision.

“As my presidential year drew to a close and the award deadline loomed, I reflected on engagement, which was my chosen theme for my term. Engagement means so many different things to our volunteers as I learned. At my first meeting, I asked the Executive Committee to describe what engagement means to them, and from that I created a word cloud (opposite).

“At that same time, our Executive Committee was debating and finalizing decisions based on the recommendations of the ARP Governance Task Force. The task force was composed of diverse individuals, representing past and future leaders, seasoned and newer volunteers, and each from a different field of service within the rheumatology community. Their recommendations, which were drafted to address the ARP’s future and optimize our performance in meeting the needs of our membership, were provided on the basis of an immense amount of data gathering, including interviews with members, volunteers and ACR/ARP leaders, as well as surveys done by the Governance Task Force volunteers. I realized this team of volunteers was a shining example of true engagement.