The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) is calling for nominations for the 2016 National Cheese Institute’s Laureate Award, an honor celebrating major contributions in the cheese manufacturing industry for more than 30 years.

“From fostering industry-wide efforts to elevate dairy food safety, discovering chemical and microbiological breakthroughs in formulation and creating innovations in packaging that are now the industry standard, previous winners represent the revolutionaries of their craft,” IDFA said.

Nominations are currently being taken and the award winner will be recognized at a special ceremony during IDFA's Dairy Forum 2016, Jan. 24-27, at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Nominations must be submitted by Aug. 28, 2015, and there is no fee to enter.

According to IDFA, eligible candidates should be business or academic leaders who have made “significant, prolonged contributions to the development and growth of the cheese industry.”

“The winners of the Laureate Award are the innovators, the drivers and the dedicated cheesemakers that have shaped the US cheese industry into the successful and growing industry it is today, “said Connie Tipton, National Cheese Institute president and CEO. "We look forward to celebrating these individual contributions with the presentation of the 2016 award."

 The nomination form can be downloaded here.