​The stars of the security industry were honored at the GSX luncheon session on Monday, as the U.S. Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) were given to a range of accomplished professionals, companies, and programs in the industry.

Geoff Craighead, CPP, the 2013 ASIS past president who is now a vice president at Allied Universal, won the OSPA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Craighead, who is also a published author, was lauded by the judges for his longtime contributions to the profession, including writing and speaking engagements that increased the collective knowledge of the security industry. 

Award winners and finalists in the other categories were as follows:

Outstanding Security Team: Hillsboro Technical Operations Security. Finalists included Allied Universal SJURT Puerto Rico and Sodexo.

Outstanding In-House Security Manager or Director: Raymond Gerwitz. MD Anderson Cancer Center. The other finalist was Major Alexander R. Liggett, 11th Security Support Squadron.

Outstanding Contract Security Company: Sodexo. Finalists included Admiral Security Services and Global Elite Group Inc.

Outstanding Security Consultant: Michael A. Silva, CPP, Silva Consultants. Finalists included Luke Bencie, Security Management International, and Michael Glasser, CPP, PCI, PSP, Glasser Security Group.

Outstanding Security Training Initiative: Matthew W. Doherty, Hillard Heintze. Finalists included Bloomberg Security Operations and Wombat Security, a division of Proofpoint.

Outstanding Security Equipment Manufacturer: Smartwater CSI. Finalists included IDIS America and Kisi Inc.

Outstanding Security Officer: Richard W. Sullivan, FBI (Phoenix Division). The other finalist was Cynthia Hale, Allied Universal.

Outstanding Young Security Professional: Russell Mallette, CPP, Allied Universal. Finalists included Eric Oleksy, Allied Universal and Drew Weston, CPP, CodeLynx.

The U.S. OSPAs are part of a global awards program to recognize companies, teams, and individuals from across the security sector. The program has been set up in collaboration with security associations and groups from across the world. Monday's presentation marked the third annual U.S. OSPAs, which were launched in 2016.

Currently, the OSPAs are offered in Australia, Germany, Ghana, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

"We are in negotiations with other parts of the world and are close to announcing other important countries," Dr. Martin Gill, founder of the OSPAs, said at the luncheon.

The OSPAs judges are all nominated by associations, and the judging criteria is the same all over the world. Each entry must achieve a fixed score threshold to become a finalist, so that consistent quality across the competition is maintained.

This year the OSPAs program raised more than $6,000 for CARE International, a leading humanitarian organization that fights global poverty.

The program also enjoyed the support of several sponsors. These include Edith Cowan University, which sponsored the trophy and certificates; the International Foundation for Protection Officers (IFPO), which sponsored the Outstanding Security Officer category; and the program's U.S. partner, ASIS International.