A nod to exceptional service

Dr. Lynne Opperman, department head of biomedical sciences, recently received the A.J. Ladman Exemplary Service Award from the American Association for Anatomy for her contributions to anatomical sciences.

The service award is given periodically to members who have “provided exceptional service to the Association and/or mentorship in the discipline.”

Opperman, a Texas A&M University System Regents Professor, is a past-president of the national organization and has served on or chaired numerous AAA committees and task forces since joining in 1998. She was on the AAA board of directors for 14 years: three as the Committee for Young Anatomists representative, five as a program co-chair and six in the presidential chain. She has mentored numerous anatomists at different points in their careers.

“These activities have always been rewarding for me in their own right, so being given this extra recognition is just the icing on the cake,” she says. “I am thankful to all my mentors who instilled in me a drive to give as much if not more than I receive, and who were role models, teaching me the essence of being a servant leader.”

In 2019, Opperman was named an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in the oral health sciences section. She also served a three-year term as an AAAS council delegate.