Pentagon manager wins top prize from Good Housekeeping

A Defense Department manager who helped the relatives of victims in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon won the top prize in Good Housekeeping's fifth annual Award for Women in Government.

Meg Falk, director of the Office of Family Policy at the Defense Department, received $25,000 for setting up a disaster assistance center for victims' families at a local hotel within 24 hours of the Sept. 11 attacks. Falk and her team of volunteers helped relatives organize funeral arrangements for victims, offered legal and financial assistance and provided families with a shoulder to cry on.

On Sept. 11, terrorists crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.

"This was such a difficult year and we are thrilled to be able to recognize one of the many women who lent their support after Sept. 11," said Ellen Levine, editor-in-chief of Good Housekeeping, during a ceremony at the Library of Congress Wednesday that honored recipients of the award. "All of the women being honored today have worked extremely hard to make a difference and improve the lives of others."

The annual Good Housekeeping Award for Women In Government recognizes 10 women working at all levels of government for improving people's lives through innovation and dedication to public service. Partners in the awards ceremony include the Council for Excellence in Government, the Partnership for Trust in Government and the Center for American Women and Politics.

Kathleen Robinette, a research anthropologist with the Air Force, was also among the 10 winners.

Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, received the first Good Housekeeping/Wyeth Award for Women's Health, a new award that honored the two lawmakers for their work sponsoring and passing legislation to promote and improve women's health. Mikulski and Snowe worked on the law that created the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health and have sponsored legislation to provide breast and cervical cancer screening to uninsured women.

Wyeth Laboratories, the co-sponsor of the award, is part of American Home Products Corp., a research-oriented pharmaceutical company.

The Award for Women in Government provided nearly $70,000 to 10 winners this year, including the $25,000 grand prize to Falk, $25,000 to Mikulski and Snowe and $2,500 to each of the seven other winners, including Robinette. A panel led by former U.S. Reps. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., and Tillie Fowler, R-Fla. chose the 2002 winners from more than 300 nominees.

Other winners included: California State Assemblywoman Dion Aroner; Utah State Office of Hispanic Affairs Director Leticia Medina; Madison, Miss. Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler; Patricia Gabow, CEO and medical director of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority; Philadelphia City Council Majority Whip Marian Tasco; and Renee Lewis Glover, president and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority.

All award winners are profiled in the July 2002 issue of Good Housekeeping.