LAS VEGAS — At last Sunday night’s AWDA general session, Jon Owens from Babcox Publications presented the 2007 Pursuit of Excellence Award to Jay Burkhart, senior vice president, Global Aftermarket for Federal-Mogul Corp., based in Southfield, MI.

Established in 1983, the award is presented annually to a member of AWDA in recognition of excellence in business performance and support for AWDA and its ideals.

At left: Federal-Mogul’s Jay Burkhart accepts Pursuit of Excellence award from Babcox Group Publisher Jon Owens.

In presenting the award, Owens noted Burkhart’s role in development of the Car Care Council’s hugely popular Car Care Guide. Burkhart was instrumental in bringing this project to fruition. The guide is a cornerstone of the “Be Car Care Aware” consumer education campaign, which is managed by AAIA and strongly supported by AWDA. To-date, more than two million guides have been produced and distributed to motorists.

“Jay Burkhart has spearheaded Federal-Mogul’s role in the ‘Be Car Care Aware’ campaign at many levels. His professional staff was involved with AAIA in the creation of the campaign five years ago and has continued to stay involved,” said Rich White, AAIA’s senior vice president for marketing and member relations. “Jay has volunteered his time serving as the chairman of the Car Care Council’s Executive Board and stepped up to the plate to lead a task force and fund the creation of the new Car Care Guide. He well deserves this honor.”

Burkhart joined Federal-Mogul in 1998 with the acquisition of Cooper Automotive and was most recently vice president of global marketing for Aftermarket Product and Services. He has had positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of product-line management, product pricing and gross margin, brand management and overall aftermarket strategy.

Prior to joining Cooper, Burkhart was vice president of marketing worldwide for Tenneco Automotive. He spent a decade in the packaged goods industry before entering the automotive aftermarket.