oskar pfister award oskar pfister award the oskar pfister award was established by the american psychiatric association (apa), with the association of mental health clergy (now the association of professional chaplains), in 1983 to honor those who have made significant contributions to the field of religion and psychiatry. the recipient delivers a lecture at an apa conference during the year of award, although the 2002 lecture was delivered by susan larson on behalf of her late husband. the award is named in honor of oskar pfister, a chaplain who discussed the religious aspects of psychology with sigmund freud. award winners source: association of professional chaplains 1983 – jerome d. frank 1984 – wayne oates 1985 – viktor frankl 1986 – hans küng 1987 – robert jay lifton 1988 – oliver sacks 1989 – william w. meissner 1990 – peter gay 1991 – robert coles 1992 – paulos mar gregorios 1993 – paul r. fleischman 1994 – james w. fowler iii 1995 – prakash desai 1996 – ann belford ulanov 1997 – ana-maria rizzuto 1998 – allen bergin 1999 – don s. browning 2000 – paul ricoeur 2001 – irvin d. yalom 2002 – david larson 2003 – abraham twerski 2004 – elizabeth bowman 2005 – armand nicholi 2006 – ned h. cassem 2007 – william r. miller 2008 – dan g. blazer 2009 – kenneth i. pargament 2010 – george e. vaillant 2011 – clark s. aist 2012 – harold g. koenig 2013 – marc galanter 2014 - c. robert cloninger 2015 – allan josephson 2016 - james w. lomax 2017 - james griffith 2018 - john swinton