FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2009
Contact: Sarah Howe
202-775-9111
U.S. DEPT. OF VETERANS AFFAIRS' JANET KEMP NAMED FEDERAL EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR FOR LIFE-SAVING SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE, AT 1-800-273-TALK
Nine Additional Stand-Out Federal Employees Receive Prestigious Service to America Medals, the "Oscars" of Government Service
WASHINGTON – The Partnership for Public Service awarded the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Janet Kemp with the Federal Employee of the Year medal, the Service to America Medals top award, at a Washington, D.C. gala held September 23.
Kemp was one of ten outstanding federal workers to receive a Service to America Medal. The “Sammies” 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.
Kemp’s work at the VA has the ultimate impact: it saves lives. Kemp created the national suicide prevention hotline for veterans, active duty military personnel and their families three years ago. With more than 400 employees working full-time on suicide prevention, so far the hotline has logged in more than 160,000 calls that have resulted in more than 5,000 immediate rescues. For more about Kemp and her work, go to www.servicetoamericamedals.org.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki presented the Federal Employee of the Year medal to Janet Kemp, a Canandaigua, New York resident, at the “Sammies” gala.
“For some the unseen wounds of war are just as debilitating and potentially just as lethal as any other traumatic battlefield injury,” Secretary Eric Shinseki, Department of Veterans Affairs, said. “Thanks to Dr. Janet Kemp, America’s serving military and its Veterans have a life-saving, life affirming resource – the suicide prevention hotline.”
“Janet Kemp and all 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 homelessness.”
Additional Service to America Medals were presented to:
- 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 the 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.
- 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 Service to America Medals winners were nominated by colleagues familiar with their work and selected by a committee that includes E. J. Dionne, Jr., columnist, The Washington Post; Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., senior managing director, Lazard Fréres & Co.; Colleen M. Kelley, national president, National Treasury Employees Union; Janet Murguía, president and CEO, National Council of La Raza; Norman Y. Mineta, vice chairman, Hill & Knowlton, Inc.; 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. 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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The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
