The George R. Lippert Memorial Award, recognizing extraordinary contributions to SIA and the security industry, was first presented in 1989. Alan Forman, last year’s Lippert award recipient, presented the 2010 award to Leo Guthart, CEO and chairman of Topspin Partners, Roslyn Heights, N.Y.

“I couldn’t think of a more deserving person to present this award to tonight. I want to personally thank him for his positive influence on me. He’s a consummate mensch,” Forman said. Guthart highlighted the evolution of the security industry since the time when he started at Ademco at 26 years of age and attributed the development of technologies and expansion of the industry to the remarkable “good people” that are a part of it. “You can have great ideas, but you need good people,” he remarked.

The heads of the three associations each took a moment to honor the memory of John A. Murphy, the recipient of the 2009 Triton Award, who passed away Oct. 13 this year.

In Murphy’s place, Ralph Sevinor presented the 2010 Triton Award to Cecil Hogan, founder and president of Security Consultants Inc., Memphis, Tenn., in recognition of his long-standing dedication to the industry and work to re-establish and maintain a good working relationship between the three associations.

“… I had a couple secret weapons when I got elected [as president of ESA in 2002]. The president of SIA was a Tennessee boy, and the president of CSAA was a good friend of mine and a Tennessee boy. And it didn’t take long for us to figure out we didn’t need to be mad at one another.” Hogan sat on the ESA board of directors for 18 years.

Also during the awards dinner, retired Admiral Thad Allen received the fourth annual Fred V. Morrone Memorial 9/11 Award for his contributions to homeland security. Allen was a leader during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.