The William F. Neuman Award is the ASBMR's oldest and most prestigious award. It recognizes an ASBMR member for outstanding and major scientific contributions in the area of bone and mineral research and for contributions to associates and trainees in teaching, research, and administration. The award includes a $2,000 honorarium and a plaque which is presented at a morning plenary session at the Annual Meeting.

William F. Neuman, Ph.D., was a world-renowned scientist in the field of mineral metabolism. His seminal work on bone-seeking isotopes as part of the Manhattan Project was followed by major works in the chemistry of mineral and matrix, the function of bone cells, the metabolism of parathyroid hormone, and the concept of bone membrane. Dr. Neuman, along with his wife Margaret, authored the seminal monograph "The Chemical Dynamics of Bone Mineral" in 1958. He and his associates formed the Department of Radiation Biology and Biophysics at Rochester, where he served as co-chair and then chairman.