Dr. William (Bill) Stead has led the nation in thinking about how biomedical informatics methods and architectures can improve health care systems for decades. His ideas coupled with his leadership have been significant at the local and the national level. He was the first editor of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), a role that he held for ten years. The AMIA Stead Award for Thought Leadership in Informatics acknowledges people who have influenced our thinking about informatics, especially improving health and health care in ways that are visionary and transformative.

The 2015 award recipient was William Edward Hammond II. 

The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) is an honorary society established to recognize those who have made sustained contributions to the field. As President of ACMI, Ed created the Morris F. Collen, M.D. Medal for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Medical Informatics and presented the inaugural award to Morrie Collen in 1993. Dr. Collen’s efforts as a pioneer in the field stand out as the embodiment of creativity, intellectual rigor, perseverance, and personal integrity. In his introductory remarks, Ed noted that “a sign of maturity occurs in a field when we recognize that the field has produced an individual who has made defining, significant and lasting contributions to it. That moment has arrived in Medical Informatics.”  Ed went on to receive the Award in 2003. 

Once a year, when appropriate, the College gives its highest recognition to those whose attainments have, throughout their careers, substantially advanced the science and art of medical informatics.

The article “Presentation of the Morris F. Collen Award to William Edward Hammond II, PhD” highlights the award ceremony where William Edward Hammond II was honored with the Morris F. Collen Award. The article details Hammond’s outstanding achievements in the field, including his pioneering work and innovations that have significantly advanced medical informatics. The ceremony celebrated Hammond’s career, his impactful research, and his dedication to improving healthcare through the use of technology and data. The award reflects his exceptional contributions and the high regard in which he is held by his peers. Read the article in it’s entirety here.

For personal commitment and dedication to AMIA
with service on the Board of Directors for over a decade. 

Board Treasurer: 1990-1991 and 1998-1999
Board Director: 1992-1994 and 1997
President-Elect: 2001
President: 2002-2003
Past President: 2004

Paul Clayton presented the 1999 AMIA President’s Award to Ed, “a pioneer in the field who has advanced the level of standards and served faithfully as treasurer of AMIA during a demanding time.”

Reed Gardner presented the 1997 AMIA President’s Award to Ed, “in recognition of his dedicated work in the development and promotion of medical informatics standards and his work as the champion of AMIA members and Working Groups.”

Received the AMIA Presidents Award on November 2, 1993.

AIMBE’s College of Fellows is comprised of almost 3,000 individuals who have made significant contributions to the medical and biological engineering (MBE) community in academia, industry, government, and education that have transformed the world.

Chair of the Data Standards Working Group of the Connecting for Health Public-Private Consortium

Chair of the Computer-based Patient Record Institute and on the CPRI Board

Ambassador to Developing Countries

Chair of the Joint Initiative Council of ISO/CEN/HL7

President of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and AMIA Board member

President and Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics

    *three terms as Chair of Health Level Seven and HL7 committees

    *two terms as the Convenor of ISO Technical Committee 215 Working Group 2

Chair of the Data Standards Working Group of the Connecting for Health Public-Private Consortium

Chair of the Computer-based Patient Record Institute and on the CPRI Board.

Chair of ACM SIGBIO

Chair of the Steering Committee for the Rockefeller-sponsored Open Enterprise eHealth Architecture Framework Project

Member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Patient Safety Data Standards

Member of the National Library of Medicine Long Range Planning Committee

Member of the Healthcare Information Technology Advisory Panel of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations