The Cesery Award ranks high among the national honors granted by American trade, industry and professional groups. It stands for the proposition that the tile trade is an economic unit composed of those who produce tile, those who contract for the installation of tile and those who set tile. The Cesery Award declares that all who make salaries, profits or wages from the tile trade, labor in a common market and thus come within the scope of the Award. The Cesery stands ready to honor any person from any source who has served the American tile trade with great distinction. The Award is not the property of the Tile Contractors' Association of America. Rather the Contractors hold it in trust for the benefit of that broad group in the national economy that composes the total American tile trade.

The Cesery Award grants honor to its Holders but the Holders also return honor to the Award.

In its choice of men and women to receive it the Cesery has operated with great caution and success.

All who have received it are men and women of distinction and integrity whose efforts have met with a marked measure of personal success. All have figured prominently in the American tile trade; all have taken an active part in their respective national bodies. Each has given of his time and effort to the advancement of this trade, to the benefit of the American consumer and to the common good of all those who make a living out of the production and installation of ceramic tile. All stand firmly committed to the belief that the ceramic tile industry starts with the factory and ends with the jobsite, that tile as a product-in-use is a combination of good workmanship and quality materials installed under the supervision of a specialty contractor experienced in this branch of masonry. All are dedicated to the common welfare of the ceramic tile trade. None can foresee the caliber of future recipients but we can trust that the coming years will provide men and women of high purpose and achievement equal to those who have received it in the past.

These are the standards established for The Cesery Award, first conferred in 1964. Throughout the years, the challenge has been to maintain the high quality and appropriately choose a worthy Award recipient.

There are many individuals in the tile industry who have contributed over the years in promoting and improving the industry on a national level. A Cesery Advisory Committee has been formed, consisting of Fred Caccese, Al Lippert and Bob Smyth. These gentlemen have agreed to work diligently in identifying those persons worthy of distinction.