With a sold-out crowd of over 600 Chamber members, community partners and guests Thursday evening at the Augusta Marriott Convention Center, the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce awarded its highest honor to an Augusta man who dedicated his career to improvements in the treatment of burn patients. During the 115^th Annual Meeting, the Augusta Metro Chamber honored the life and legacy of Dr. Joseph M. Still with the 2024 Lester S. Moody Award of Excellence. 

The Lester S. Moody Award is named after a man of great vision and integrity, whose passion for what was in the best interests of Augusta changed the course of our community in many ways. The Augusta Metro Chamber began the Lester S. Moody Award of Excellence in 2008 as part of its Centennial celebration to honor the memory of Lester Moody, who is credited with much of the Augusta area’s economic foundation. Periodically, the Chamber chooses a person who follows in the footsteps of Lester Moody, who has also significantly contributed to our community and dedicates their lifetime of achievement with this award. This year was the first time in seven years this award has been presented, last time being awarded to Don Grantham in 2017. 

This year’s honoree, Dr. Joseph M. Still, founder of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, teamed up with Doctors Hospital in 1978 to build one of the world’s leading treatment facilities for burn victims. Dr. Still founded the Burn Foundation of America, formerly known as Southeastern Firefighters’ Burn Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to helping burn patients and their families with non-medical necessities. The foundation operates the Jeffery Vaden Chavis House, a long-time dream of Dr. Still’s, which is a place for people to stay while their family members are in the burn center. 

Dr. Still and his wife, Sue, have 10 children and 26 grandchildren. They enjoyed traveling the world together, including taking annual trips with their children. Several of Dr. Still’s children were present this evening to accept the award including Astronaut Susan Still Kilrain, the keynote speaker for this year’s Annual Meeting. Dr. Still was a giant of a man, with a heart to match his size. He was a visionary, seeing the bigger picture that most could not see. Determined, generous, compassionate, hard-working, risk-taking and problem-solving only begin to describe this friend and family man who affected the lives of thousands—and was loved by just as many.