The Marine Aquarium Society of North America (MASNA) has a long history of recognizing outstanding aquarists who help lead, influence, and mentor saltwater fish and reef keepers. Over the years, the who and what of these awards has come and gone from the Internet, so CORAL Magazine undertook a bit of data mining to compile a list of all recipients of Pioneer Awards, MASNA Awards, and Aquarists of the Year, to preserve some of this aquarium history in an easily-accessible format.
The Pioneer Award
Of all of MASNA’s honors, the Pioneer Award has been the most recent addition, and unlike all the others it was not awarded annually. Instead, it was reserved for singular occurrences that transcend the existing system of recognition, and was selected exclusively by the MASNA BOD.
From the 2023 MASNA website: “The MASNA Pioneer Award recognizes the foundational contributions of scientists, conservationists, industry, and trade practitioners who have contributed immensely to what we perceive as today’s common knowledge.
“These early pioneers explored their worlds in ways that others at the time could not imagine. Their significant accomplishments served to uplift others following in their footsteps, often through mentoring. Marine aquarium hobbyists would not be as knowledgeable or successful in their endeavors today, without the contributions of these early pioneers.”
MASNA Pioneer Award Recipients
2018 MASNA Pioneer Award for Science – Dr. John “Jack” Randall
2018 MASNA Pioneer Award for Industry – Walt Smith
2023 MASNA Pioneer Award for Publishing – James Lawrence
2024 MASNA Pioneer Award for Hobbyist Advancement – Ryan Batcheller
The MASNA Award
From the 2023 MASNA website: “The MASNA Award started in 1995, when industry leaders recognized the need for an award to honor those who are helping shape and influence the marine aquarium hobby.
“The first MASNA Award was presented to Mr. Martin Moe, Jr. for his continued dedication and service to the marine aquarium hobby. It was awarded on September 15, 1995 at MACNA VII, hosted by the Louisville Marine Aquarium Society (LMAS) in Louisville, Kentucky.”
Many recipients have received what has become known as “The Fish” as a tangible form of this recognition.
MASNA Award Recipients
1995 Martin Moe, Jr.
1996 Tom Frakes
1997 Bill Addison
1998 Dr. Bruce A. Carlson
1999 Scott Michael
2000 Larry Jackson
2001 Dr. Ron Shimek
2002 Eric Borneman
2003 Anthony Calfo
2004 Julian Sprung
2005 Bob Fenner
2006 Dr. Sanjay Joshi
2007 Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley
2008 Charles Delbeek
2009 Matt Pedersen
2010 Dr. Matt Wittenrich
2011 Dana Riddle
2012 Kevin Kohen
2013 Todd Gardner
2014 Richard Ross
2015 Terry Siegel
2016 Joe Yaiullo
2017 Dr. Andrew Rhyne
2018 Frank Baensch
2019 Dr. Craig Bingman
2020 Alf Jacob Nilsen
2021 Svein A. Fosså
2022 Michael Paletta
2023 Jake Adams
2024 Marc Levenson
MASNA’s Aquarist Of The Year (AOTY)
From the 2023 MASNA website, “Starting in 2017, MASNA recognizes two individuals for their work in the marine aquarium hobby that positively contributes to the ongoing sustainability of the hobby and future marine environments through the MASNA Award and the Aquarist of the Year Award.
“Together with MASNA, previous winners of the MASNA Award and Aquarist of the Year award evaluate a pool of MASNA membership nominated individuals to decide who has given the most to the hobby and industry over their lifetime and past year, respectively.
“The MASNA Award [was historically] called the Aquarist of the Year Award. The MASNA Award is to recognize those individuals who have contributed a lifetime of achievement to the marine aquarium industry, not only recently, but in the past.
“The second award, now named Aquarist of the Year Award, is to recognize those individuals who have made a more recent achievement to the marine aquarium industry.”
Of note, MASNA did not choose to honor an Aquarist of the Year in 2023 and 2024.
MASNA Aquarists Of The Year
2017 Karen Brittain
2018 Dr. Jamie Craggs
2019 Tom Bowling
2020 Tal Sweet
2021 Kathy Leahy
2022 Alyssa Gabriel
Other Honors
In addition, MASNA has recognized many students through the scholarship program, many of whom have gone on to be vital members of our flourishing aquarist community. That’s a list for another day!
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