The ACS Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2006 by the American Cheese Society Board of Directors to honor an individual whose professional accomplishments have made a significant and lasting impact in the American cheese industry, and whose life and character have earned the respect and admiration of their professional colleagues. Nominees must have served the profession over an extended period and will be honored for their service and performance. Recipients may or may not be ACS members.

The ACS Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented whenever a worthy recipient is identified. This may or may not be an annual occurrence.

Nominees must have served the profession over an extended period of time. Recipients may or may not be ACS members. The award recipient must meet all of the following criteria:

Be an individual whose professional accomplishments have made a significant and lasting impact in the American cheese industry.

Be respected and admired by professional colleagues.

Demonstrate strength in building, supporting and advancing the society and its membership.

Have a minimum of twenty (20) years’ experience in a cheese-related profession.

Launched in 2012, this award may be granted to individuals who have made an outstanding volunteer contribution to a specific project for ACS, or who have played a key role in a noteworthy association initiative that has impacted the cheese industry in a meaningful way.

Current ACS members in all membership categories are eligible for this award. Award recipients should have made a real and impactful contribution to ACS and/or the cheese industry that is directly related to their project work. The contribution should directly advance at least one of ACS’s core values:

Network and Communicate

Education and Resources

Sustainability

While there is no minimum duration of service that is required, in general, award recipients have given in excess of 400 hours of volunteer time in support of a specific project.

The ACS Meritorious Service Award was created in 2022 to honor a person or persons who have provided, over the course of their professional career, distinctive accomplishments in leadership, mentorship, or advocacy in a selfless manner that has served to better the cheese community as a whole.

Nominees may or may not be current ACS members. There is no minimum duration of service attached to this award, only demonstrable and significant actions that have improved our cheese community

The ACS Academy of Cheese® (AoC) was created in 1993 to honor individuals who have made, or continue to make, valuable contributions that impact the American cheese industry. The charter induction honored ACS’s original founders and early supporters. Classes of inductees share a related industry vocation for their collective dedication to and passion for growing and supporting the artisan, farmstead, and specialty cheese industry in North America. Inductions can be made in any year, but emphasis is placed on marking anniversary years or significant events with inductions. Classes of inductees are based on a common theme among candidates. AoC provides an opportunity to honor and celebrate these exceptional individuals and raise awareness of their unique contributions to the industry.

Inductees may include cheesemakers, cheesemongers, supporting trade members, authors, educators, academics and others who, over the course of a career (generally ten (10) years or more), have demonstrated leadership and commitment to strengthening and contributing to ACS and the wider cheese industry.