Announcing the Recipients of 2024 VRA Awards!
VRA is proud to announce two important awards presented at the 42nd annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 10th, 2024.
Distinguished Service Award
Each year, VRA honors an individual who has made an outstanding career contribution to the field with the Distinguished Service Award (DSA). The 2024 DSA was proudly presented to Meghan Rubenstein, Colorado College, Curator of Visual Resources & Lecturer. Rubenstein truly deserves the DSA for her exceptional technical expertise, far-reaching service, and ongoing dedication to the field of Visual Resources.
As nominator Lael Ensor-Bennett said in her nomination letter, “Meghan has been instrumental in the governing and care of the VRA for much of the past eight years.” In a similar vein, John Trendler wrote, “Meghan’s passion for visual and digital literacy is evident in everything she does. Whether she’s leading a workshop, giving a presentation, or simply offering advice to a colleague, she’s always looking for ways to make a positive impact.”
Nomination Speech Transcript, Lael Ensor-Bennett
Acceptance Speech Transcript, Meghan Rubenstein
Nancy DeLaurier Award
The Nancy DeLaurier Award (NDL), is named for one of the pioneers of the visual resources profession. It annually honors a visual resources professional for distinguished achievement in the field. “Achievement” may take the form of published work, oral presentation, project management, software development, technology application, website creation, or other outstanding effort. This year, the NDL was awarded to members of the Trans Metadata Collective in recognition of their role in the research and development of “Metadata Best Practices for Trans and Gender Diverse Resources.”
Elias Larralde wrote in support of the nomination, “The resource is a crucial document for many different stakeholders in our field, most importantly the Trans individuals and subjects that are often hidden in collections around the world.” Maureen Burns wrote that, “...tireless work is clearly evident– coordination, research, discussions, writing, development, review, and dissemination– making this project very deserving of the 2024 DeLaurier Award.”
Nomination Speech Transcript, Lesley Chapman
Acceptance Speech Transcript, B. M. Watson
Congratulations to the very deserving 2024 VRA Awards recipients and sincere thanks to their thoughtful nominators!