The Natural Products Association (NPA) has announced recipients for
3 of its annual awards which recognize major contributors to the
natural products industry.1 The announced recipients and
awards are: Rand Skolnick for the President’s Award, Harry H.S. Fong,
PhD, for the Burton Kallman Scientific Award; and Robert F. Fox, Jr.,
for the Rachel Carson Environmental Award. Recipients will be honored
at the Natural MarketPlace 2008, the annual trade show and convention
of NPA, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 17-19.
The President’s Award recognizes those who have largely contributed to the natural products industry.2
The recipient, Rand Skolnick, is the president and CEO of Solgar
Vitamin and Herb, a manufacturer of nutritional supplements since 1947,
founded by Skolnik’s grandfather.1 An addition to a family
of leaders in the dietary supplement industry, Skolnick received his
degree in Biochemistry from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
“The Solgar brand, the Skolnick family’s brand, has long been
revered as an example of quality in the industry,” Daniel Fabricant,
PhD, NPA’s vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, wrote
(e-mail, December 26, 2007). “Mr. Skolnick is dedicated to that legacy
and dedicated to the independent retailers as the carrier of that
legacy.”
In 1998, the family sold the company to American Home Products (a
division of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals), which in turn sold it to NBTY in
2005, a diversified company in the natural nutrition business,
manufacturing and distributing various brands of dietary supplements
and owner of 450 Vitamin World retail stores.3,4
The Burton Kallman Scientific Award, which recognizes significant
contributions to the natural products industry, will be received by Dr.
Fong.2 Dr. Fong is a founder and president of NatPorPharm
Services, Ltd., a consulting company that researches and developments
natural products and pharmaceuticals, and a professor emeritus of
pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC).1
According to Dr. Fabricant, some of Dr. Fong’s most notable
contributions to the industry include his work on the American
Botanical Council’s Ginseng Evaluation Program, his peer review of many
publications on natural products research, and his work on the
reference: Botanical Dietary Supplements: Quality, Safety, and Efficacy with co-authors Gail B. Mahady, and Norman R. Farnsworth (CRC Press 2001). He was also a co-author of the World Health Organization (WHO) Monographs, another notable reference.
“However, for me personally it’s all of the teaching, coordinating
and behind the scenes work that Dr. Fong has done, and continues to do,
along with Dr. [Norman] Farnsworth and the other faculty to establish
UIC as one of the premier institutes for natural products research in
the world,” wrote Dr. Fabricant. “During my time there, it was like a
tight-knit family, with Drs. Farnsworth and Fong leading the family.”
Dr. Fabricant also added that Dr. Fong, like the previous Kallman award
recipients, displayed both a depth and breadth to his work and
accomplishments in natural products research that is truly unique.
Robert Fox will receive the Rachel Carson Environmental Award which
recognizes those actively engaged with environmental preservation.2
With a masters degree in Architecture from Harvard University, Fox is a
partner at Cook+Fox Architects in New York City, a firm that
specializes in the creation of ascetically pleasing and environmental
friendly buildings.1 Fox was referred to in a NPA press release as “one of the most highly respected leaders in the green building movement.”1
“Mr. Fox is really a pioneer—here is an individual who has
effectively merged green building and corporate economics,” wrote Dr.
Fabricant. “He wants to do the right thing for the environment, the
right thing for the balance sheets and uses that approach to set an
example for the world to follow.”
The Natural Products Association, formerly the National Nutritional
Foods Association (NNFA), is a national trade association whose mission
is to “advocate for the rights of consumers to have access to products
that will maintain and improve their health, and for the rights of
retailers and suppliers to sell these products,” according to its Web
site.2 More information about NPA and its awards is available at http://www.naturalproductsassoc.org/.
—Kelly E. Saxton
References
1Natural Products Association announces annual major
award winners 2008 awards honor outstanding contributions to the
Natural Products Industry and community [press release]. Washington, DC: NPA; December 17, 2007.
2NPA. NPA Awards Page. NPA Web site. Available at: http://www.naturalproductsassoc.org/site/PageNavigator/ln_awards08. Accessed June 5, 2007.
3Blumenthal M. Herb industry sees mergers, acquisitions, and entry by pharmaceutical giants in 1998. HerbalGram. 1999;45:67.
4Blumenthal M. NBTY buys Solgar and SISU. HerbalGram. 2005;68:63. |