Lifetime Achievement Award

At each annual meeting, the MDS President presents a Lifetime Achievement Award to a senior clinical dermatologist who has demonstrated an enduring commitment to advancing the field of medical dermatology through mentorship of emerging professionals and of outstanding patient care.

Nominations are made by the MDS Board of Directors and past honorees, and voted on by the MDS Executive Committee. In addition to recognition at the annual meeting, honorees are granted lifetime MDS membership and annual meeting registration.

Bruce H. Thiers, MD

Bruce H. Thiers, MD

2026 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Medical University of South Carolina

Bruce H. Thiers, MD is Distinguished Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina. He was born in New York City and graduated from Brooklyn College and the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine, where he remained for his postgraduate training. After an internship in internal medicine, he completed his residency in dermatology in 1978 and passed the certifying examination of the American Board of Dermatology the same year. He joined the faculty of the Department of Dermatology in Buffalo in 1979 and relocated with other members of the Department to the Medical University of South Carolina later that year. He was associate editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology from 1988-98 and served as its chief editor from 2008-18.

He is consulting editor of Dermatologic Clinics and a former editor of the Year Book of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery. He was President of the American Academy of Dermatology from 2020-21, having previously served as Vice President and as a member of the Board of Directors of that organization. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professors of Dermatology and the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Thomas G. Pearson EdD Memorial Education Award of the American Academy of Dermatology. His area of expertise is dermatologic therapeutics with a special interest in psoriasis and complex medical dermatology.

MDS Lifetime Achievement Recipients

Explore the distinguished individuals who have received the MDS Lifetime Achievement Award. These leaders have demonstrated enduring commitment to advancing medical dermatology through clinical excellence, innovative research, and dedicated mentorship.

2021 – 2025

Alice Pentland, MD

Alice Pentland, MD

University of Rochester

2025 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Dedee F. Murrell, MA, BMBCh, FAAD, FRCP, MD, FACD, DSc

St .George Hospital, UNSW

2024 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Andrew G. Franks, JR. MD, FACP, FAAD, FACR

New York University Langone Health

2023 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Amy McMichael, MD

Amy McMichael, MD

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

2022 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Joseph L. Jorizzo, MD

Joseph L. Jorizzo, MD

Wake Forest School of Medicine

2021 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

2016 – 2020

Timothy Berger, MD

University of California, San Francisco

2020 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Janet A. Fairley, MD, FAAD

Janet A. Fairley, MD, FAAD

University of Iowa Health Care

2019 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Warren R. Heymann, MD

Warren R. Heymann, MD

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University; Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

2018 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Russell P. Hall, MD

Russell P. Hall, MD

Duke University School of Medicine

2017 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Jean L. Bolognia, MD

Jean L. Bolognia, MD

Yale University School of Medicine

2016 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

2010 – 2015

William D. James, MD

William D. James, MD

University of Pennsylvania

2015 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Luis A. Diaz, MD

Luis A. Diaz, MD

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

2014 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Richard D. Sontheimer, MD

Richard D. Sontheimer, MD

University of Utah

2013 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Gerald G. Krueger, MD

Gerald G. Krueger, MD

University of Utah

2012 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Jeffrey P. Callen, MD

Jeffrey P. Callen, MD

University of Louisville

2011 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Victoria P. Werth, MD

Victoria P. Werth, MD

University of Pennsylvania

2010 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

1998 – 2009

Harley A. Haynes, MD

Harley A. Haynes, MD

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

2009 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Kenneth E. Greer, MD

Kenneth E. Greer, MD

University of Virginia Medical Center

2008 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Lee T. Nesbitt, Jr., MD

Lee T. Nesbitt, Jr., MD

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

2007 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Samuel L. Moschella, MD

Samuel L. Moschella, MD

Lahey Hospital and Medical Center

2006 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Thomas Provost, MD

Thomas Provost, MD

Johns Hopkins University

2005 Lifetime Achievement Awardee

Irwin M. Braverman, MD

Irwin M. Braverman, MD

Yale University School of Medicine

was presented the CAREER RECOGNITION AWARD on February 26, 1998, for dedication as a consummate clinician-investigator in medical dermatology.