Lester Kurtz, from George Mason University’s Sociology and Anthropology Department, received the Lester F. Ward Distinguished Contribution to Applied and Clinical Sociology Award from the Association for Applied & Clinical Sociology. Ward, who was elected the first president of the American Sociological Society in 1914 (later the ASA), said that sociology is “a science of liberation.” Prof. Kurtz is pictured here with Robert Kettlitz, President of the ACSA, upon receiving the award at their annual meetings on 10 October 2014, where Kurtz delivered the keynote address.