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Partnership for Public Service Announced Inaugural Service to America Medals People’s Choice Award

July 15, 2015

WASHINGTON – The nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service today announced that voting is open for the new 2015 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals People’s Choice Award.

The Service to America Medals have earned the reputation as the most prestigious awards to honor America’s civil servants, and for the first time, members of the public can vote for who they think has made the most admirable contribution to the American people.   

All 30 Service to America Medal finalists are eligible to win the People’s Choice Award, which will be presented in October at a Washington, D.C. gala. The finalists are also contenders for eight medals in a variety of categories, including Federal Employee of the Year.

The 2015 finalists’ achievements include creating new treatments for cancer and sickle cell disease, instituting life-saving fire safety improvements for commercial airliners, developing a geographically targeted cell phone alert system to warn of dangers from tornadoes and flash floods, finding alternatives to the use of antibiotics in poultry and coordinating the U.S. response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

Other finalists conducted eye-opening research on the effects of carbon dioxide emissions on the marine environment, transformed toxicity testing of thousands of chemicals and provided the Navy with the first-ever laser weapon system to be approved for combat.

A list of the 30 Service to America Medal finalists is attached.  Voting is open now through Wednesday, September 30, at servicetoamericamedals.org/peoples-choice.

This is the first year an award winner will be chosen by the public. The other eight category winners are selected by a committee that includes leaders in government, academia, the private sector, media and philanthropy.

National sponsors for the 2015 Service to America Medals are Chevron and ConantLeadership. Additional sponsors include Booz Allen Hamilton, The Boston Consulting Group, Citi, Deloitte, ForeSee, Grant Thornton, McKinsey & Company and Morgan Stanley.

The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals program is named in memory of business leader and visionary philanthropist Samuel J. Heyman who founded the Partnership for Public Service to revitalize our federal government and to inspire a new generation to serve.

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