2011 Raymond Hakim, PhD, MD & Allen Nissenson, MD, FACP
Dr. Hakim serves as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Executive Vice President, Clinical & Scientific Affairs for Fresenius Medical Services North America. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-trained engineer broadened his career in 1972, when he entered McGill Medical School. He completed his Nephrology fellowship at Harvard Medical School and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He went on to serve as Medical Director of Dialysis Clinical Services at Vanderbilt University Hospital. In 1995, Dr. Hakim became one of the founders of Renal Care Group which later merged with Fresenius Medical Care North America. Dr. Hakim has spoken at hundreds of patient and health care professional meetings and has authored more than 160 articles regarding issues in dialysis. He has also contributed chapters to more than 30 medical books.

Dr. Nissenson is Chief Medical Officer of DaVita, Inc. Dr. Nissenson is a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School. He spent much of his career at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA where he is still Emeritus Professor of Medicine. Dr. Nissenson served as President of the Renal Physicians Association, the national association of nephrologists focusing on public policy and clinical practice issues. He is the author of two dialysis textbooks, has written hundreds of articles on anemia, dialysis care and health care. In addition, Dr. Nissenson is the founding President of the National Anemia Action Council (NAAC), a multidisciplinary organization to raise awareness of professionals and the public about the prevalence, consequences, and treatment of anemia.

2010 Tom F. Parker, III, MD
Dr. Parker was a founding member of Dallas Nephrology Associates and continues to be very involved in the kidney community; kidney patients remain close to his heart. Dr. Parker is a consultant with the Baylor University Medical Center Transplant Program, a Senior Attending at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, TX, a Clinical Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Chief Medical Officer of Renal Ventures Management. His major contributions have been, with others, to define the quantity and quality of dialysis delivery, having written more than 100 papers on the subject. One of Dr. Parker's many notable contributions, was co-hosting a four-day conference with Harvard Medical School that pointed out the ongoing inadequate outcomes and quality of life for patients undergoing dialysis and outlined what now needs to be accomplished to immediately change this. He continues to be actively engaged in affecting these changes.

2009 Robert W. Schrier, MD
Dr. Schrier is a Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His vast contributions to the field of nephrology include, but are not limited to, patient-oriented research in acute kidney injury; autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease; hypertension and diabetic nephropathy; renal sodium and water retention in heart failure and cirrhosis. This important research has been funded  by the National Institutes of Health for more than 35 years. Dr. Schrier has also served as President of the American Society of Nephrology, the National Kidney Foundation and the International Society of Nephrology. He is the Editor of three major kidney text books, including Nature Clinical Practice Nephrology.

2008 Todd Ing, MD
Dr. Ing is courtesy staff physician in the Department of Medicine at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Hines, IL, as well as Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine. He is also a key member of the renal community  both nationally and internationally with his current and prior appointments to the editorial boards of Kidney, Hong Kong Journal of Nephrology, Hemodialysis International and Peritoneal Dialysis International. Dr. Ing is most highly noted for his outstanding patient care and support. He has unselfishly provided renal care to veterans for more than 25 years and his enthusiasm for patients has been disseminated by his bedside teaching, publication of articles and books, and his organization of educational seminars for patients and healthcare professionals alike. He is also co-editor of the Handbook of Dialysis which has been translated into nine different languages and is widely used around the world.

2007 Robert S. Fennell, III, MD
For more than 30 years, Dr. Fennell has exemplified the best in the field of nephrology. As Professor and Chief of the Pediatric Nephrology Division of the University of Florida College of Medicine, he is known by his fellow colleagues as the "consummate hands-on clinician" who is regarded as one of the most outstanding teachers, scholars and healers. Dr. Fennell's work as a pediatric nephrologist has led him to care for more than 500 pediatric patients. His commitment to the field of nephrology and his compassion for pediatrics proved instrumental in the development of the pediatric dialysis unit at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida where he has been Medical Director since its inception in 1975. Currently named as one of the Best Doctors in America, it is evident his notoriety extends far beyond the University and Hospital. After 33 years of dedicated service to pediatric nephrology, Dr. Fennell retired in 2007. 

2006 H. Keith Johnson, MD
For nearly four decades, Dr. Johnson has made significant contributions to nephrology and transplantation, while devoting his career to patients. He is the founding and principal nephrologist for DCI, the only large non-profit U.S. dialysis organization dedicated to the care of renal patients. Dr. Johnson’s legendary leadership has allowed DCI to commit more than $100 million to research, education and non-profit activities such as Camp Okawehna, a week long summer experience for children with kidney disease.Founder of the Tennessee Donor Services, Dr. Johnson has worked diligently in local, regional and national efforts to increase organ donation. He has been president of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) and the Southeastern Organ Procurement Foundation (SEOPF).

2005 John Sadler, MD
Regarded as an individual of tremendous ability, versatility and decency, for the past four decades, Dr. Sadler has strived for optimization of quality patient-centered care. He has always proven to be an effective patient advocate with a “patients come first” approach.Since 1979, Dr. Sadler has served as President and CEO of IDF, a regional non-profit dialysis provider, located in Baltimore. Dr. Sadler was a founding member and first president of the Renal Physicians Association, which to this day continues to strongly pursue quality healthcare for patients.

2004 Morrell M. Avram, MD
Recognized nationally as a patient advocate, Dr. Avram was among the first to use the artificial kidney to treat a considerable number of patients with kidney failure, including those with diabetic kidney disease. This led to his establishment of one of the nation's first kidney centers, the Long Island College Hospital's Avram Center for Kidney Diseases. This center has long served as an international model of widespread and innovative care.

2003 Willem J. Kolff, MD & Belding H. Scribner, MD
Dr. Kolff is of the University of Utah School of Medicine and Dr. Scribner, who passed away in June 2003, was of the University of Washington School of Medicine.By developing the artificial kidney and devising a system for repeating hemodialysis over a longer period, Drs. Kolff and Scribner changed the fatal outcome of kidney failure to a treatable disease.

2002 George E. Schreiner, MD
Dr. Schreiner is a pioneer in the development of dialysis as a viable treatment option. As a professor of medicine for almost 40 years at Georgetown University, he played a major role in significant advancements in the treatment of end-stage renal disease, from advancing dialysis from an experimental procedure to standard therapy. He was a key figure in establishing federal support for hemodialysis treatment.

2001 Garabed Eknoyan, MD & Nathan Levin, MD
Dr. Eknoyan, professor of medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, is known as a leader in patient education and is recognized as a leading expert on the relationship between cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. Dr. Levin, medical and research director for the Renal Research Institute, has a long history as a leading advocate of quality water standards in hemodialysis treatment and has been at the forefront in the areas of hemodialysis adequacy and dialyzer reuse. Drs. Eknoyan and Levin previously served as co-chairs of the National Kidney Foundation - Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF-DOQI).

2000 Christopher R. Blagg, MD
Dr Blagg is executive director of Emeritus of the Northwest Kidney Center in Seattle. He was one of the first physicians to support the use of home hemodialysis and has served kidney patients in Seattle since 1971 at the Northwest Kidney Center. Dr. Blagg serves on the AAKP Medical Advisory Board.

1999 John D. Bower, MD & Renal Physicians Association
Dr. Bower is retired from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he served as professor of medicine and chief of Division of Nephrology. Dr. Bower continues to serve on the AAKP Medical Advisory Board. Based just outside of Washington, D.C., the RPA has represented and served nephrologists in their pursuit of quality healthcare for more than 25 years. The RPA is committed to high quality, cost-effective and ethical renal care.

1998 A. Peter Lundin, MD
Dr. Lundin, of the State University of New York Health Science Center, was instrumental in the formation of AAKP more than 30 years ago and was the first renal patient to complete medical school and specialize in nephrology. Dr. Lundin served on the AAKP Medical Advisory Board.

1997 Clive O. Callender, MD
Dr. Callender, of Howard University Hospital, helped start both kidney and liver transplant programs. Dr. Callender has been very involved in the effort to increase the number of minority organ donors and founded the National Minority Organ/Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTEP). Dr. Callender serves on the AAKP Medical Advisory Board.

1996 Eli A. Friedman, MD
Dr. Friedman is chief of the Division of Renal Disease for the State University of New York, Health Science Center at Brooklyn. He helped form the National Association of Patients on Hemodialysis, now known as the AAKP. Dr. Friedman currently serves as the chairperson of the AAKP Medical Advisory Board.