This award, established in 1991, recognizes an individual in the tradition of Cliff Edom to inspire and motivate members of the photojournalism community to reach new heights.

Cliff Edom taught at the University of Missouri for 29 years where he founded the University of Missouri Photojournalism Workshop and the Pictures of the Year competition.

Edom was co-author of Picture Editing, the first book about picture handling for newspaper photographers and editors. He also wrote three other books. In addition, Edom is credited with coining the word "photojournalism." Clif Edom died in 1991.