To honor the life and accomplishments of Hugh C. Atkinson by soliciting nominations and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of academic librarians who have worked in the areas of library automation or library management and have made contributions (including risk taking) toward the improvement of library services or to library development or research. The award is jointly sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, and is funded by an endowment created by divisional, individual, and vendor contributions given in memory of Hugh C. Atkinson.