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The American Association of Railroad Superintendents (AARS) recently named the winners of its inaugural Lantern Awards for Excellence, which were created this year to recognize outstanding individuals and organizations, and share best practices in the rail industry.

The awards are bestowed in four categories: the Leadership Award, which honors leadership excellence in the rail industry; Ones to Watch Award, which recognizes newer managers who demonstrate optimal performance in efficiency and safety; Partnership Award, which honors an organization that provides consistent support to AARS and the industry at large; and the Outstanding Student Award, which recognizes an undergraduate or graduate student who demonstrates academic and professional excellence.

AARS presented the Leadership Award to Canadian Pacific Senior Vice President of U.S. Operations Doug McFarlane based on his performance as a leader who worked his way through the ranks in the rail industry to foster a diverse and varied career. Since joining CP in 1976, McFarlane gained experience in mechanical services, customer service, operations, labor relations, marketing and sales, and interline and quality management.

The Ones to Watch Award recipient is Conrail Manager of Field Operations Joe Price, who increased efficiency and improved safety by helping to boost train performance, reduce derailment costs and mark "noteworthy improvements" in Federal Railroad Administration injury reports, AARS officials said in a prepared statement.

The association bestowed the Outstanding Student Award to Pamela Brushaber, the recipient of the newly established AARS Addie B. Morris Scholarship who is a graduate student in urban and regional planning, with a specialization in transportation, at Michigan State University. She is working on a thesis about Michigan's high-speed rail line and is working as an intern at the Michigan Department of Transportation. The $1,000 Addie B. Morris Scholarship is offered through the generosity of Addie Morris Husbands, a retired BNSF Railway Co. superintendent and AARS vice president, in memory of her mother, AARS officials said.

The Partnership Award winner is Conrail, which "consistently provided essential support to the [association] and the industry as a whole," said AARS Vice President Steve Hoye, the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago's superintendent-CTCO. Conrail executives Ron Batory and Joe Garofolo are past and present AARS presidents, with Batory serving in 2008-09 and Garofolo now serving from 2012-13.

The AARS will be accepting entries for the 2013 Lantern Awards — which will be presented at the association's annual meeting in Newark, N.J., in July 2013 — from Nov. 1, 2012, to June 1, 2013.

Meanwhile, the association also named the recipients of the 2012 Frank J. Richter Scholarships, which are named after Progressive Railroading's co-founder.

The recipient of a $1,000 scholarship is Valerie Edwards, an aviation science student at Elizabeth City State University who has interned at the North Carolina Department of Transportation and worked as a Langley Aerospace Research summer scholar intern. The second recipient is Jay Banna, a civil engineering student at Arizona State University who has participated in a study of railroad efficiency conducted by a University of Minnesota professor.

Undergraduate and graduate students who have completed at least one semester of undergraduate work can apply for a 2013 Frank J. Richter Scholarship beginning March 1, 2013. The AARS will accept applications, reference letters and transcripts through June 1, 2013.