ACDS Presidential Citation Award
In March 2021, I received the following letter from the American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS), confirming that I had won the ACDS 2021 Presidential Citation Award. This prize is awarded to 'an individual who has made significant contributions to the Society and the field of contact dermatitis over the last several years'.
It didn't say what it was for, but I had a hunch. A few months earlier I had offered the entire digital contents of the 4th edition of my book Patch testing to the ACDS to post on their website and make it freely accessible to all members. When I looked at the plaque I received soon thereafter, my suspicion turned out to be correct. The Americans understood very well that this offer (which I had also made to the European Society of Contact Dermatitis, which they knew) wouldn't exactly be conducive for my book sales, and such an altruistic gesture was apparently appreciated in ultra-capitalist USA.
As a congratulations on this prize, my friend and former classmate Dr. Han Israels sent me this sheet of stamps with the President's Citation printed on them