Educational Award
Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad
The Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad is established to assist a Member Society in their Cosmetic Science education programme.
Starting 2025, the prize is presented every year at the IFSCC Congress for the best submission of a proposed programme by an eligible Member Society.
The amount of the prize is 8,000 Swiss Francs paid over 3 years.
Eligibility
Member Societies who have been affiliated with the Federation for at least one year, are current in their membership dues, and are in the second half of Members Societies as ranked using the IFSCC ranking methodology. A Member Society may receive the Prize up to two times.
Learn more about Lester ConradWho is Lester Conrad?
- Lester Conrad was a pioneering figure in the cosmetic science industry — a chemist, research scientist, self-taught engineer, and visionary business leader. He founded American Cholesterol Products, later known as Amerchol Corporation, and became a trailblazer in the derivatization of lanolin and glucose for emollient and surface active products, authoring over 20 publications and patents.
A dedicated advocate for global cosmetic science, Lester was a cornerstone of the IFSCC, serving as its President in 1967 and tirelessly working to expand its membership across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
In his memory, the Lester Conrad Award was established in 1980, recognizing member societies that demonstrate outstanding commitment to developing scientific activities in cosmetic science — a lasting tribute to his remarkable legacy.
Conditions
There is no formal application to be filled out for the Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad.
- Details
Societies wishing to win this award explain (in an email or letter to secretariat@ifscc.org) how they would use the CHF 8,000 grant money over a 3 year period.
The prize is awarded to the Society with the best proposed educational program. The next Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad will be awarded in 2026 at the IFSCC Perth Congress. The deadline to receive email submissions is 1 July (Central European Time). The winner will be notified end of July.
Here is a complete list of the Societies eligible for the IFSCC Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad in 2026, based on the post-Cannes Congress rankings: Austria, Bulgaria, Central & West Africa-SCOAC, Central America-ACACC, Chile, Czech Republic, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Middle East Countries, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, Slovak Republic, Thailand, Uruguay, Venezuela.
From this list we exclude from consideration any Societies affiliated with the IFSCC less than 1 year, those which are not current in their Membership Dues, inactive Societies, and those Lester Conrad-winning Societies which are still holding programs.
- The New Zealand Society has been selected as the winner of the 2025 Society Education Prize in honour of Lester Conrad. The Praesidium voted it as the society presenting the strongest educational programme among this year’s applicants. The NZSCC has been a member of the IFSCC since 1986.
- Nigeria Society NICOS is the winner of our 2023 Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad, having been voted by the Praesidium as the Society with the best proposed educational programme from this year’s applicants. NICOS joined the IFSCC in 2020, with Grace Abamba as Founding President.
- The 2021 Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad was won by the Asociación Centroamericana de Ciencias Cosméticas, our Central American-affiliated Society. Due to the ongoing impact of COVID ACACC plans to hold their initial conferences virtually and will invite all Spanish-speaking IFSCC Member Societies to participate as well.
- The Bulgarian Society of Cosmetology won the 2019 Society Education Prize in honor of Lester Conrad. They attended the 2019 IFSCC Conference in Milan to accept their prize. They will be delivering two high-quality lectures a year 2020-2022 on a variety of topics of interest to their Membership, including the use of Bulgarian plants in cosmetics. IFSCC Past Secretary General Mary Lynn Halland called Dr Krastanka Marinova on 5 August 2019 to deliver the good news. Dr. Marinova said “the Bulgarian Society is very grateful to have this funding. We will now be able to carry out 3 years of wonderful seminars and, hopefully, build our Membership. Thank you, IFSCC.”
- On winning the 2017 prize, Manuel Li, President of the Asociación Peruana de Química Cosmética, based in Lima, Peru, said: “The support from the IFSCC will permit us to offer our Members 3 years of high-quality education we could not afford on our own. Also, we hope our outstanding programmes will attract new Members to our Society. Many thanks to the IFSCC for choosing us.”
Prize winners
Granted Awards
Awards made to date have been presented to the following Societies
- New Zealand in 2025
- Nigeria in 2023
- Central America in 2021
- Bulgaria in 2019
- Peru in 2017
- Hong Kong in 2013
- Indonesia in 2011
- India in 2009
- Ecuador in 2007
- Slovakia in 2005
- Romania in 2003
- Poland in 2001
- Croatia in 1999
- Argentina (again) in 1997
- Israel in 1995
- Uruguay in 1993
- Venezuela in 1991
- New Zealand in 1989
- Brazil in 1987
- Yugoslavia in 1985
- Argentina in 1983
- Czechoslovakia in 1981
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