FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2003

PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE AND ATLANTIC MEDIA COMPANY CONGRATULATE 2003 SERVICE TO AMERICA MEDAL AWARDEES

Washington, D.C. – The Partnership for Public Service and the Atlantic Media Company, co-founders of the annual Service to America Medals, are proud to announce the 2003 Service to America Medals awardees.  A complete list of the nine winners follows.

This year's awardees were selected by a committee of distinguished Americans with a strong commitment to public service: David Broder, national political correspondent, The Washington Post; Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman and publisher, The New York Times Company; U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK); U.S. Representative David Obey (D-WI); Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy; Llewellyn Wells, co-executive producer, NBC's “The West Wing,” the Honorable Kay Coles James, director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management; the Honorable Donna Shalala, president, University of Miami; Vance Coffman, chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation; Jehmu Greene, executive director, Rock the Vote; Sara Martinez Tucker, president and CEO, Hispanic Scholarship Fund; Patricia McGinnis, president and CEO, Council for Excellence in Government; Judith McHale, president and COO, Discovery Communications, Inc.; John Pepper, chairman, The Procter and Gamble Company; Timothy B. Clark, editor and president, Government Executive; and Max Stier, president and CEO, Partnership for Public Service.

The Partnership for Public Service is a non-partisan, non-profit organization committed committed to recruiting and retaining excellence in the federal workforce.  The Atlantic Media Company publishes National Journal, the Atlantic Monthly, and Government Executive magazines.

The nomination period for the 2004 Service to America Medals opens October 15, 2003.  Nominations must be submitted online on the official Service to America Medals website.  

2003 Service to America Medals Awardees

FEDERAL EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR MEDAL - $10,000 prize
Stephen McHale
Deputy Administrator
Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Arlington, Virginia
On January 2, 2002, the Transportation Security Administration consisted of two people – and Stephen McHale was one of them.  Over the next year, McHale helped grow TSA into an organization responsible for aviation security with more than 60,000 people – the largest mobilization of a new agency since World War II.

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL - $10,000 prize
Dr. James Bagian        
Director, National Center for Patient Safety
Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Ann Arbor, Michigan
A NASA physician and astronaut; a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon; and an engineer with HUD, the Navy and EPA – Dr. James Bagian has contributed enormously in his 24 years of experience as a federal public servant.  Among his many accomplishments is the development of an innovative patient safety program that is now in place in hospitals around the world.

CALL TO SERVICE MEDAL - $5,000 prize
Alyson McFarland
Program Development Officer
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
When three North Korean refugees jumped over the wall of the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, China, seeking asylum, it captured worldwide attention and touched off negotiations within the highest levels of the U.S., Chinese and South Korean governments.  Alyson McFarland, one of the consulate's only Korean-language speakers, helped defuse the situation – a major diplomatic achievement, given that McFarland has been in the State Department only three years.

BUSINESS AND COMMERCE MEDAL - $3,000 prize
Nelson Hernandez and team
National Coordinator for Community Affairs
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Washington, DC
Thanks to Nelson Hernandez and the Community Affairs team at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the innovative multimedia “Money Smart Program” they developed, over 100,000 disadvantaged Americans and recent immigrants have learned how to benefit from personal banking services and better manage their money.

ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MEDAL - $3,000 prize
Earl Stockdale
Deputy General Counsel of the Army (Civil Works & Environment)
Department of the Army
Washington, DC
Earl Stockdale is the man behind the plan to restore the Florida Everglades – the world's largest environmental restoration project.  He was the linchpin in developing a multibillion dollar plan through which the Army Corps of Engineers, working with the State of Florida and other federal agencies, would protect this cherished ecosystem.

HOMELAND SECURITY MEDAL - $3,000 prize
Paul Polski
Program Director
Transportation Security Administration
Atlantic City, NJ and Washington, DC
Paul Polski spent 12 years heading an 80-person task force at a Federal Aviation Administration counterterrorism lab in southern New Jersey that developed innovative products to detect concealed weapons before they can be brought onto commercial aircraft and others that may allow planes to survive a terrorist attack.

JUSTICE MEDAL - $3,000 prize
Edward J. Needham and team
Special Agent
Joint Terrorism Task Force, U.S. Department of Justice
Buffalo, New York
The 22-member Buffalo Joint Terrorism Task Force – led by Special Agent Edward Needham – took the lead in bringing a potential Al Qaeda “sleeper cell” to justice before they could unleash an act of terror on American soil.

NATIONAL SECURITY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS MEDAL - $3,000 prize
Riaz Awan
Energy Attaché
U.S. Department of Energy
Kiev, Ukraine
Riaz Awan has devoted his career to the swift, safe and secure permanent closure of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. He is helping coordinate the construction of a new concrete shelter over the destroyed reactor, and advises Ukrainian authorities to ensure that terrorists and rogue states cannot access nuclear materials.

SOCIAL SERVICES MEDAL - $3,000 prize
Denise Johnson
Deputy Chief, Polio Eradication Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Atlanta, Georgia
Denise Johnson is charged at the CDC with worldwide eradication of polio by 2008.  Keeping her ey

# # #

 

© 2007 Partnership for Public Service