The Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately is annually given to a living individual for outstanding service to philately. The award was established in 1952.

2008

Charles J. Peterson - The Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for 2008 will be presented to Charles J. Peterson, of Laurel, Maryland, at the Collectors Club Annual Awards Banquet, which will be held at the Cornell Club in New York on May 7, 2008.  Mr. Peterson has had a distinguished career in philately, most notably as an author, editor, and administrator.

A member of the Collectors Club for 35 years, Charlie has served in many capacities within the American Philatelic Society and the American Philatelic Research Library.  His term as president of the latter culminated in the effort to secure the Match Factory for the APS.

At the international level, he served the F.I.P. as commission president of the Literature Commission for 17 years and currently serves on the F.I.P. board as a director.  He has been a jury member for over 30 F.I.P. juries and has served as jury chairman on a number of occasions, most recently at Washington 2006.  Besides jury work, he has been active in the organization of national and international shows.

His collecting interests are eclectic: Serbia, U.S. postal history, German specialty items and thematics.  Overshadowing all these, however, is his philatelic literature collection, which features many classic volumes.

If anything, Charlie is noted for his editorial prowess.  Two journals are closely linked with his name, the Chronicle of U.S. Classic Postal Issues, which he edited for 23 years and for which he twice received the Diane Boehret award, and the Philatelic Literature Review, which he edited for 15 years and similarly twice received the Thomas Brasch award.  He has compiled cumulative indexes for at least 14 different philatelic periodicals and books, a much underrated task that he achieves with greatest care.  Besides hundreds of book reviews and articles on philatelic literature or philatelic writing, in both U.S. and foreign journals, he has been technical editor or advisor on ten or more philatelic studies, often unheralded but of exceptional value to the publications.

Needless to say, Charlie Peterson has received many honors in his philatelic career.  Foremost of these was signing the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1991.  He is one of only five to have received the Luff Award from the APS twice; first in 1988 for Outstanding Service to Philately and again in 2006 for Service to the APS.  The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society chose him for the Distinguished U.S. Philatelist award in 1992 and awarded him the Lester G. Brookman Cup for outstanding service to the USPCS in 2003.  Overseas, the Bund Deutscher Philatelisten awarded him both the bronze and silver service pins and the silver pin for Special Service in Research and Literature.  The Copenhagen Philatelic Club, Denmark, awarded him its Silver Medal in 1994.  He has been a member of the Royal Philatelic Society London for 40 years and is a Fellow.  The APS Writers Unit #30 elected him to its Hall of Fame in 1997.  It is fitting that he now adds the well-deserved Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award to these achievements. 

2007

Thomas J. Alexander - The Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for 2007 was presented to Thomas J. Alexander of Kansas City, Missouri, at the Collectors Club Annual Awards Banquet, held at the Cornell Club in New York on May 9, 2007. Mr. Alexander has had a distinguished career in philately, most notably as an author.

His effort to complete the work started with his long-term colleague Creighton Hart, on the United States 1847 Cover Census has provided a major resource to the collectors of those popular classic issues. Tom’s interest in the early years of United States philately saw print in articles in the American Philatelic Congress Book, the American Philatelist and The Chronicle, the journal of the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society.

As author, he has also produced two booklets for the National Postal Museum of the Smithsonian Institution; The 1847s: America’s First Stamps, for the exhibit by Guido Craveri, and The Queen’s Own: Stamps that Changed the World, to accompany the exhibit from The Royal Philatelic Collection. In 1979 he produced Simpson’s U.S. Postal Markings 1851–61. His current effort is to complete an analysis and publication of recently rediscovered Post Office Department records relating to the production of U.S. postage stamps from 1847 to 1910. This last project was started with the late experts George Brett and W. Wilson Hulme.

Tom Alexander has long offered his services to various philatelic organizations. A recipient of the 1985 Luff Award for research from the American Philatelic Society, he later joined the Luff committee and currently rejoined as a member to fill a vacancy. He has also chaired both the A.P.S. Ethics Committee and the Insurance Committee. He is currently a trustee of the Philatelic Foundation and a member of the Council of Philatelists of the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum.

With his philatelic interests centering on classic U.S. issues, it is natural that Tom would have close connection with the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society. Indeed, he served as vice president, then president in the early 1980s and is now an ex officio member of the Board of Directors. For over 20 years he has served as the editor of the 1851 section of The Chronicle. Committee service includes the Nominating Committee, Awards Committee, Publications Committee and the Distinguished Philatelist Committee. The society has recognized his service in various ways, including awarding him the Ashbrook Cup (1979), the Chase Cup three times, the Brookman Cup (1984) and the Distinguished Philatelist Award (1989).

Other awards Tom has received include the James and Corita Cryer Award (2000), the Elizabeth C. Pope Medal (2002) and the Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award. It was with pleasure that the Board of Governors of the Collectors Club selected Thomas J. Alexander to receive the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award to add to honor his long and distinguished service to philately.

2006

Patricia Stilwell Walker - The Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award was established in 1952 to recognize distinguished service to philately, and is regarded as one of the highest international awards in philately. In over fifty years, only three women have been selected by the Board of Governors for the honor, with Patricia Stilwell Walker now becoming the fourth. She received the award at the Annual Awards Banquet, which was held at the Cornell Club on May 10, 2006.

Pat decided to collect Irish postal history, with her first purchase of a cover at Interphil ‘76. Three years later she was a seasoned exhibitor. She met her husband Dan, then a novice, at a show in Newark in 1979 (where both won silver medals) and they were married three years later.

Her exhibiting results have improved greatly from that relatively modest start, with international results including the Grand Prix National at The Stamp Show 2000, the F.I.P. World Exhibition in London and a Large Gold with Special Prize in España 2004 in Valencia for her Irish postal history. Not to be considered one with a single area of interest, her exhibit of Baltimore postal history has been shown once at the F.I.P. level winning Large Gold at Bangkok 2003.

She has long been a member of the Eire Philatelic Association, having served two terms as president in the late 1980s, and is also a member of the Irish Philatelic Circle. She is a life member of the American Philatelic Society, having served two terms as a member of its Board of Vice-Presidents. Other memberships include the Postal History Society (U.S.), the Society of Postal Historians (U.K.), the American Philatelic Congress, and the Royal Philatelic Society London, of which she is a fellow. Pat is the immediate past president of the United States Philatelic Classics Society and is also a director and treasurer of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors. She be-came accredited as a national judge in 1985 and as an international judge 1990 (youth), adding a postal history accreditation in 1993. At Washington 2006, she served on the jury .

On the personal side, she graduated magna cum laude in mathematics from Vassar College and is now retired from working 30 years with IBM. It is not easy to stay “re-tired” and she is currently working with her husband, Dan, in his insurance firm, as well as being a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant. Each year she is actively involved on the BALPEX committee as chairman of judges and exhibits selection.

With such a wide range of philatelic credentials, Patricia Stilwell Walker is a worthy addition to the list of recipients of the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award. 

2005

John M. Hotchner - A writer, editor, researcher, and lecturer well known to U.S. collectors, John Hotchner has made extraordinary contributions to the promotion and awareness of philately. His work on behalf of organized philately is notable. A Board member of the American Philatelic Society for 16 years, he served in numerous capacities, including Committee Chairman of Mentor Services Activities, Kehr Award Selection, and the Board of Vice Presidents. John was elected APS President in 1997.  He has also served on the Board of Governors of the United States Stamp Society, the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors, the Virginia Philatelic Federation, and over 20 other national clubs and societies including the Dolly Madison Stamp Club of McLean, VA.

John is currently serving on the Postmaster General's Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee and the Smithsonian National Postal Museum's Council of Philatelists. Hotchner also contributes his time and materials to "Stamps for the Wounded," an organization serving patients at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals. Whether serving a Ben Franklin Stamp Club Leader at St. Anthony's Catholic School in the seventies or on the Advisory Council of Junior Philatelists of America in the eighties, John cares about promoting philately at every level.

John has been a collector since age five.  He likes, and somehow finds the time, to collect stamps and related material. His collecting interests are diverse. He is a country collector of Great Britian, several European continental countries, Venezuela, Russia, Isreal, several Asian countries amongthem, India, China, Straits Settlements, Australia and New Zealand. He has several thematic collections as well.

As an exhibitor, Hotchner has recieved national Grand awards and vermeil at the International level, as well as a national Gold in philatelic literature. John is an accredited philatelic judge in stamps and literature. He has judged at numerous national shows and FIP shows. Hotchner, a feature writer for Linn's Stamp News, currently contributes to the Virginia Philatelic Forum and Linn's Stamp Almanac and he serves as Editor for U.S. Stamp News and The Philatelic Exhibitor.

John is married and has four grown children and five grandchildren. A graduate of the University of Virginia, John has 38 years of service with the U.S. Foreign Service, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. He is currently serving as Director of Passport Policy and Legal Advisory Services.

John is the recipient of numerous awards for his philatelic writing and service including the APS Luff Award, the USSS Hopkinson Literature Award, and election to the APS Writers' Unit Hall of Fame.  On May 11, 2005, Club members and guests will gather at the Cornell Club to honor someone who has devoted his time and energies to promote philately.  It is in itself an honor to add John Hotchner's name to the list of recipients of the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award.

2004

Ernst Cohn - Best known for his extensive research in the stamps and postal history of France, Scandinavia, and Germany, Ernst Cohn was honored with the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Award for Distinguished Service to Philately on May 12, 2004.

Born in Mainz, Germany, he served with the U.S. Army at the Nuremberg trials. Before and after that he served as a chemist for the U.S. government, and is now retired to his lifelong pursuit of philatelic study. His particular fascination for years has been in the mails during the siege of Paris in 1870-71, about which he prepared exhibits of ballons montés, pigeon messages, smuggled and diplomatic siege mails, not only of Paris, but also other towns such as Metz and Belfort.

Although his collections are notable, Ernst is more closely associated with his philatelic writing. Much of it, of course, is related to the 1870 sieges, but he has also taken on a number of controversial subjects to good effect. One of these, which appeared in the Collectors Club Philatelist in 1998, was the "Vineta Provisionals" of which the genuine examples are considered rarities. His research showed that there are many examples that were created after the fact and indistinguishable from the genuine ones. In the same article, he shed light on a number of aspects of the Buffalo Balloon stamps of 1877, again with the conclusion that many examples were probably produced at a later time and could not be told from the original set of labels.

Cohn is not hesitant to ask questions that point up the weakness of some aspects of expertization. For example, an article titled "Limits of Expertizing" appeared in 1999 in Fakes Forgeries Experts, No. 2. In it he lists a number of problems facing experts, such as lack of uniformity of reference material between two (or more) experts, differing standards, and how to expertise items of postal history that may be unique. An article in the 2001 issue of the same journal, "Genuine, but What?" argues for mare accurate language in describing items, as well as greater attention to facts. Many of the examples he gives show how siege of Paris mail could have been mistakenly assigned to the wrong mode of transportation through lack of knowledge of detailed facts.

Over more than fifty years of philatelic activity, he has served as an officer of many eminent organizations and has been recognized with high honors for his research, writing, and editing. The FIP research medal is rarely awarded, and Ernst was one of the first to receive it. He is a corresponding member of two philatelic academies based in France and one in Belgium. In addition, he is a member of the Society of Philatelic Writers Unit #30, has received its "Broken Pen" award. He was selected for the Luff Award for Distinguished Philatelic Research in 1995.

Although he has retired from activities as an international judge, he offers his insights on expertizing and is as active as ever. A multiple part article titled "A Critical Guide to Balloon Mails—Facts and Fables about 1870 War Mails" was started in the November–December 2003 issue of the Collectors Club Philatelist.

2003

Richard Winter

2002

Harry Sutherland

2001

Thomas C. Mazza

2000

no winner

1999

Gordon C. Morison

1998

Gary S. Ryan

1997

Dr. Norman S. Hubbard

1996

Paul H. Jensen

1995

Louis Grunin

1994

Alan K. Huggins

1993

Robert P. Odenweller

1992

Dr. Roberto M. Rosende

1991

Hiroyuki Kanai

1990

John O. Griffiths

1989

Susan M. McDonald

1988

John B. Marriott

1987

Bernard A. Hennig

1986

George South

1985

William H. Miller, Jr.

1984

Robert H. Pratt

1983

George W. Brett

1982

Robert G. Stone

1981

Barbara Mueller

1980

Ronald A. G. Lee

1979

Dr. Enzo Diena

1978

Col. James T. DeVoss

1977

F. Burton Sellers

1976

George T. Turner

1975

Joseph Schatzkes

1974

Ernest A. Kehr

1973

Phil Silver

1972

Soichi Ichida

1971

Mortimer Neinken

1970

Robson Lowe

1969

H. R. Holmes

1968

Herbert Bloch

1967

John R. Boker, Jr.

1966

Harrison D. S. Haverbeck

1965

Alvaro Bonilla Lara

1964

Vincent G. Greene

1963

Henry M. Goodkind

1962

Louise Boyd Dale

1961

John J. Britt

1960

J. R. W. Purves

1959

Gen. C. W. Wickersham

1958

Winthrop S. Boggs

1957

Harry L. Lindquist

1956

John Wilson

1955

August Dietz

1954

Dr. Carroll Chase

1953

Dr. Clarence W. Hennan

1952

Theodore E. Steinway