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The American Society of QuestionedDocument Examiners is now into its 7th

decade of existence. The success ofthe ASQDE over several generations isdue to the hard work anddevotion of manyindividuals. The Albert S.Osborn Award ofExcellence was created torecognize thoseindividuals who havecontributed above andbeyond what is expectedof a Society member. It isentirely appropriate forthese individuals to berecognized by their peersfor their exceptionalcontributions.

The criteria for the ASOAward are as follows:

A. The recipient mustbe a living member ingood standing of theASQDE and may beeither a Regular or Lifemember at the time of the nomination.

B. The recipient must have beenactive in the field of questioneddocument examination for a period ofat least 25 years and must have been amember of the ASQDE for a period of atleast 20 years.

C. The award shall only bebestowed on persons who haveattained exceptional distinction in termsof :

1. Cumulative activities, such asprofessional research or literaryaccomplishments which advance thefield of questioned documentexamination, and

2. Outstanding service to the ASQDEover a long period of time, such serviceresulting in generally recognized andbeneficial improvements in the Society.

To date, this award has only beenawarded twice. The inaugural honoreewas the late James V. P. Conway. Thesecond recipient of the ASO Award wasRoy A. Huber.

At the 2004 AGM in Memphis, thethird recipient of the ASO Award wasannounced. The Executive Committeeunanimously decided to honor Lifemember John J. Harris for his dedicatedand exceptional service, not only to theASQDE, but to the larger field of forensicdocument examination.

Prior to his career as a forensicdocument examiner, Jack served almostfour years during WWII in the U.S.Merchant Marine. He has a Bachelor

of Science degree from the UnitedStates Merchant Marine Academy atKings Point, New York. He also has aBachelor of Arts degree from the

University of California at LosAngeles.

Beginning in 1948, Jack wastrained by his father, John L.Harris, who was a documentexaminer for over 25 years andthe fourth president of theASQDE. Jack became aprobationary member of theASQDE in 1949, a Regularmember in 1951, and served aspresident from 1966-1968, theyoungest person to ever holdthat position. In addition tohis affiliation with the ASQDE,Jack is also a member andfellow of the AmericanAcademy of ForensicSciences, he was on the Boardof Trustees of the ForensicScience Foundation, and from1973 to 1976, on the Board ofDirectors of the AAFS. In

1983, Jack was awarded the AAFSQuestioned Document Section Awardand in 1998 he was awarded the AAFSDistinguished Fellow Award.

Jack was an instructor in questioneddocument examination at the collegelevel for more than 20 years, first at theUniversity of Southern California andlater at California State University ofLos Angeles.

From 1951 until his retirement in 1997,Jack testified in hundreds of cases,most notably People v. Juan Corona(1972 and 1982), Estate of HowardHughes (1978), The Queen v. AmosDawe (1981), and Estate of J. Paul Getty(1983).

John J. Harris: The 2004 Albert S.Howard C. Rile, Jr.

John J. Harris, circa 1960

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Arguably, themost significantcontribution thatJack has made to thefield was the majorrole that he played inestablishing theAmerican Board ofForensic DocumentExaminers (ABFDE).

Jack, along withMaureen CaseyOwens, James Horan,Roy Huber, Jim Kelly,Ordway Hilton,Linton Godown, andmany others, hadrealized the need foran independentcertifying body in thefield of forensicd o c u m e n texamination. The idea of establishingthis Board had been a constant sourceof discussion since the 1940s. Thecentral idea was to recognize theprofessionalism of not only those whobelonged to the ASQDE, but many otherqualified examiners who, for whateverreason, were not members of theAmerican Society of QuestionedDocument Examiners.

With the support of the AAFS and agrant from the LEAA, Jack and thefellow committee members were able toestablish the ABFDE as an independentcertifying body. Jack was the firstpresident of the Board and was grantedCertificate #1 in 1978.

Jack is one of our few members whohave a historical perspective on ourfield and actually knew many of theindividuals who were so instrumentalin establishing forensic document

Osborn Award of Excellence Recipient

examination as we know it today. He hadthe privilege of meeting Albert S.Osborn when, at age 14,he was allowed to attendthe 1937 Society meetingin Los Angeles. He,along with Don Doud andLucille Lacy, are thesurviving members whobecame well acquaintedwith most of the CharterMembers of the ASQDE,including those whotestified in the LindberghKidnapping case.

It was the distinctpleasure of PresidentGrant R. Sperry to presentto John J. Harris the AlbertS. Osborn Award ofExcellence on August 25, 2004. Jack’sacceptance speech was one of thehighlights of the meeting. I’m happy

to report that Jack’seloquent and thought-provoking acceptancespeech was recordedand will beincorporated into theCD of the meeting thatwill be available to allmembers in 2005.

I’m also happy toreport that Jack hasagreed to continue thethird installment of hishistorical review of theASQDE at the 2006AGM, which will beheld in Portland.

The ExecutiveCommittee, on behalf ofthe entire ASQDE,appreciated the

opportunity to bestow recognition toJack Harris for his many years of

devoted service and significantcontributions to the ASQDE.

Denver 1949 ASQDE meeting (from left): Jack Harris, Ordway Hilton, Ed Fearon, Albert D. Osborn