The Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP) has created a new Hall of Fame for leaders in Catholic publishing, changing the name of its previous award. 

ACP recognized Greg Erlandson, publisher of the Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, and Robert Gallagher, CEO and chairman of Good Will Publishers, as its first inductees honoring their significant contributions to Catholic publishing. Erlandson and Gallagher were formally presented with their awards Feb. 5 at the 2016 Mid-Atlantic Congress in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Baltimore Hilton Hotel.

The ACP board revised the name of its award from the Lifetime Achievement Award to reflect the fact that there are numerous individuals in Catholic publishing who have made significant and notable contributions. 

"We don’t need to wait until the end of a career to spotlight those who have impacted the field in a noteworthy way—and may continue to do so,” said ACP President Bret Thomas.

Mike Raffio, ACP board member, commented on this year's award recipients.

“Both embody the characteristics of this renamed award,” Raffio said.

Erlandson began his career as a journalist. As a correspondent for the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service in the late 1980s, he developed important, lifelong connections that continue to serve Our Sunday Visitor (OSV). Under Erlandson’s leadership, OSV has expanded by adding popular parish resources such as pamphlets and Catholic Parent Know-How. In 2009, Erlandson doubled the size of the OSV’s publishing division with the acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt religion publishing. As a leader in Catholic publishing, he served as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Social Communication under Pope Benedict XVI, and was selected in 2014 as one of only six international experts to serve on Pope Francis’ task force charged with proposing reforms for the work of Vatican media. Erlandson has also been president of the Catholic Press Association, a board member of the Association of Catholic Publishers and an advisor to the U.S. Bishops’ Communications Committee.

The family-owned Good Will Publishers has been Robert M. Gallagher’s publishing home since he was 16. After completing his education, Gallagher returned to Good Will to direct the company's financial operations, and in 1988, he became president. In 1997, he co-founded the Catholic Company, the Internet distributor of Catholic books and gifts. In 2005, he established Saint Benedict Press as a subsidiary of Good Will Publishers. He was instrumental in acquiring TAN Books and Neumann Press, launching the multimedia division Catholic Courses and acquiring publication rights to Catholic Scripture Study International, the Confraternity of the Precious Blood and ACS Books. Gallagher is a Knight of Malta and member of the Board of Trustees of Belmont Abbey College.

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