Applications Open for Safety Leadership Medal

Nominations are now open until 8 September for the Flight Safety Foundation’s 2023 Jerome F. Lederer Safety Leadership Medal. The award recognizes an individual or team for making a significant contribution to the advancement of civil aviation safety through demonstrated organizational or industry leadership and by developing or advancing programs that will have a lasting impact on aviation.

The medal is named after Jerry Lederer, one of the founders of the foundation who led it from its early days for nearly 20 years.  He advanced the concept of exchanging safety information, which saved countless lives, by facilitating the sharing of critical safety information among airlines, government and industry. In 1967, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) appointed him director of the Office of Manned Space Flight Safety for the Apollo program. In 1970, he became director of safety for all of NASA.   He is recognized as the “father of aviation safety.”

The nominee must meet the following criteria: has advanced safety culture and safety leadership (technical, organizational) in ways that have made a lasting mark in an organization and its programs; has been a champion and promoter of safety information sharing and exchange; has led in the development and promotion of safety standards; and, is recognized broadly and by peers as a safety leader.