The Barton A. Cummings Gold Medal Award was established by the American Advertising Federation's board of directors in 1994 to recognize distinguished individuals for their service to advertising through work with the AAF. This award is AAF’s highest volunteer service award. The award is named in honor of the late Bart Cummings, former Chief Executive Officer of Compton Advertising (now Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising), whose extraordinary career was dedicated to industry service and to advancing the social and economic values of advertising. Cummings' volunteer work included serving as Chair of the AAF, the 4As, the Ad Council, the Advertising Educational Foundation and The AAF Foundation. His many honors include induction to the Advertising Hall of Fame.