FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2009
Contact: Sarah Howe
202-775-9111

TEN STAND-OUT PUBLIC SERVANTS RECEIVE COVETED SERVICE TO AMERICA MEDALS–THE "OSCARS" OF GOVERNMENT SERVICE–AT WASHINGTON, D.C. GALA

Winners from Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New York and Pakistan

WASHINGTON – The Partnership for Public Service presented nine Service to America Medals to outstanding public servants whose remarkable work is making the world safer, healthier and greener – at a Washington, D.C. gala held in their honor, September 23.

The Service to America Medals have earned a reputation as one of the most prestigious awards dedicated to celebrating America’s civil servants, often referred to as the “Oscars” of government service.

The top medal, Federal Employee of the Year, went to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Janet Kemp, whose work has the ultimate impact: it saves lives. Kemp created a national suicide prevention hotline for veterans, which has resulted in more than 5,000 immediate rescues.

Additional Service to America Medals were presented to nine federal workers who boast achievements in international affairs, homeland security, health research, patient care, reducing homelessness, combating environmental degradation, helping Americans avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes, and reducing air pollution.

Medalists come from the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Interior and Justice, the CIA, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center, and National Cancer Institute. They work and live in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New York and Pakistan.

“The recipients of the Service to America Medals exemplify the very best of our public servants,” said Max Stier, Partnership president and CEO. “The remarkable work that they do touches our lives each and every day – from protecting our veterans to reducing air pollution.”
The 2009 Service to America Medals recipients are:

• Don Burke and Sean P. Dennehy, Homeland Security Medal. As the Intellipedia Doyen, Burke, and Intellipedia and Enterprise 2.0 Evangelist, Dennehy, promote information sharing across the intelligence community through the development and implementation of “Intellipedia,” a Wikipedia-like clearinghouse of intelligence expertise.

• T. Allan Comp, Environment Medal. Working in the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement at the Department of Interior as a Program Analyst, Comp built a network of volunteers to revitalize communities in Appalachian coal country and the Western Hardrock mining region to repair decades of environmental degradation.

• Michael German, Citizen Services Medal. As the National Team Leader at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, German created partnerships to reduce homelessness with more than 850 state and local leaders, which have contributed to a 30 percent reduction in long-term homelessness.

• Patricia Guerry, Science and Technology Medal. Guerry is the Chief of the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Branch at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center. Guerry created the promising Campylobacter vaccine to prevent the world’s top cause of food-borne intestinal illness.

• Walter Benjamin Fisherow, Justice and Law Enforcement Medal. Fisherow is the Deputy Section Chief in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Fisherow coordinated the largest Clean Air Act enforcement actions ever, which will result in the reduction of harmful air pollutants by nearly two million tons each year.

• Janet Kemp, Federal Employee of the Year. As the National Director of the Suicide Prevention Program at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Kemp established a national suicide prevention hotline for veterans, which has resulted in more than 5,000 immediate rescues so far.

• Amy Meyer, National Security and International Affairs Medal. Meyer is the Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Economic Growth in Pakistan where she helped build the program to a $200 million initiative.

• Clare Rowley, Call to Service Medal. As an economic analyst at the FDIC, Rowley helped thousands stay in their homes by working to implement IndyMac’s mortgage modification program after the bank failed, and advised the Obama administration’s efforts to reduce foreclosures.

• Thomas Waldmann, Career Achievement Medal. Waldmann is the Chief of the Metabolism Branch at the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Over the course of a 52-year career, Waldmann made cutting-edge discoveries that have led to effective treatments for previously fatal forms of T-cell leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple sclerosis.

The medal winners are scheduled to be honored on Capitol Hill’s Senate floor by Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) as part of his “Great Federal Employees” initiative with the Partnership to honor “unsung government heroes” and thank them for their hard work and dedication to serving the American people. Medalists will also participate in a White House tour.

The Service to America Medals gala was hosted by Elizabeth Vargas, co-anchor, ABC News “20/20.”
 
Medal presenters included Secretary Eric Shinseki, Department of Veterans Affairs; Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence; Peter Orszag, Director, Office of Management and Budget; Sheila Bair, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Ambassador Nancy Powell, Director General of the Foreign Service, Department of State; Michele Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Department of Defense; Bill Corr, Deputy Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services; Tom Perrelli, Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice; and Rhea Suh, Assistant Secretary, Department of the Interior.

The Service to America Medals winners were nominated by colleagues familiar with their work and selected by a committee that includes Lawrence S. Bacow, president, Tufts University; Carol A. Bonosaro, president, Senior Executives Association; U.S. Senator Thad Cochran; E. J. Dionne, Jr., columnist, The Washington Post; Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent and columnist, Newsweek; BG David L. Grange, USA (Ret.), president and CEO, McCormick Foundation; Karen P. Hughes, global vice chairman, Burson-Marsteller; U.S. Representative Darrell Issa; Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., senior managing director, Lazard Fréres & Co.; Colleen M. Kelley, national president, National Treasury Employees Union; Marguerite W. Kondracke, president and CEO, America's Promise Alliance; Steven Knapp, president, The George Washington University; Janet Murguía, president and CEO, National Council of La Raza; Norman Y. Mineta, vice chairman, Hill & Knowlton, Inc.; Tony Nicely, chairman, president and CEO, GEICO; Julian H. Robertson, Jr., chairman, Tiger Management Corporation; Judith Rodin, president, Rockefeller Foundation; and Max Stier, president and CEO, Partnership for Public Service. Nearly 400 nominations were submitted for medal consideration this year.

National sponsors for the Service to America Medals are DuPont, GEICO and the Graduate School.

The Service to America Medals program honors the best in our federal workforce and works to inspire a new generation to consider public service careers by sharing the inspiring stories of unsung heroes with the general public. Surveys show that many Americans do not know what the federal government does for them each and every day – or the fact that there are federal jobs available in practically every interest and skill area, in all 50 states and around the world.

The Partnership for Public Service works to revitalize the federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.  Visit www.ourpublicservice.org and www.servicetoameriamedals.org for more information.

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