1968 Frederick J. Close, Alcoa Aluminum Company
At its annual meeting in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, IDSA honored Mr. Close, Chairman of the Board of the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), the first IDSA award to a member of industry, for "his continuing encouragement of the use of design at all levels within a company."

In 1955, a design department was initiated at ALCOA headed by Samual L. Fahnstock, IDSA with Robert P. Eganhouse, IDSA in charge of packaging. In 1958, Fahnstock sponsored designs by leading designers and in 1958 ALCOA initiated a "Forecast" series of advertisements featuring these designs. The first was a sun-powered "do-nothing" machine by Charles Eames. In 1959 Fahnstock initiated annual ALCOA awards programs for students and professionals. These awards continued annually through 1972, and were promoted diligently by ALCOA.

(biographical information is being sought for Samual Fahnstock and Robert Eganhouse)

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