The Excellence in Craft Award was initiated in 1971 to honor an OWAA member “for out- standing effort in upholding the OWAA Creed and continued excellence in craft.” Recipients are selected by past Excellence in Craft Award recipients. Before making a final selection, the selection committee consults with both the Awards Committee chair and the immediate past president.
1972 – C.B. “Bill” Colby *
1973 – L.A. Wilke *
1974 – Frank Woolner *
1975 – Homer Circle *
1976 – C. Herb Williams
1977 – Charles F. Waterman *
1978 – John B. Madson *
1979 – Roger Latham *
1980 – Joel M. Vance
1981 – Erwin A. Bauer *
1982 – Charley Dickey *
1983 – George Laycock *
1984 – Maynard Reece
1985 – Bill McRae
1986 – Patrick McManus*
1987 – Leonard Lee Rue III
1988 – Charles N. Elliott *
1989 – Norman M. Strung *
1990 – George Reiger
1991 – Mark J. Sosin
1992 – Edward G. Zern *
1993 – Gene Hill *
1994 – Nick Lyons
1995 – Bob Brister *
1996 – John A. Barsness
1997 – Curt Gowdy *
1998 – Grits Gresham *
1999 – M.R. James
2000 – Joan Salvato Wulff
2001 – Jack Samson *
2002 – Nash Buckingham *
2003 – David J. Richey *
2004 – C. Boyd Pfeiffer
2005 – Tom Huggler
2006 – Chris Madson
2007 – D.E. “Babe” Winkelman
2008 – Jerry Gibbs
2009 – Jay Cassell
2010 – Glen Lau
2011 – Ron Schara
2012 – Thayne Smith
2013 – Glenn Sapir
2014 – Brent Frazee
2015 – Tim Christie
2016 – W. Glenn Titus
2017 – Bruce Cochran
2018 – Ben Moyer
2019 – Dan Small
* Deceased