Outstanding Feds Named Finalists for Service to America Medals

The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service on Sunday named 32 federal employees as Service to America Medal finalists for their accomplishments related to issues of critical national importance, including defense and security, environmental protection, public health and safety.

The finalists are contenders for eight annual awards, known as the Sammies, for work in seven categories—call to service; career achievement; science and environment; homeland security and law enforcement; national security and international affairs; citizen services; and management excellence—as well as the Federal Employee of the Year. Additionally, there will be a Service to America Medals People’s Choice Award.

 “Amid the heated rhetoric and hyperbole of the primary election season, it’s easy to overlook the public servants who perform the essential day-to-day work of our government,” said Max Stier, the partnership’s president and CEO. “That’s why the Service to America Medals are so important—they showcase the many extraordinary men and women who keep our country safe, carry out critical tasks and improve the lives of the American people. You’re seeing government at its very best.”

More than 350 nominations were received by the partnership since January. The 32 finalists were selected for their contributions in areas such as cybercrime investigations, initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and crafting a multibillion dollar plan to repair damage caused by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The finalists will be honored at a May 3 Capitol Hill breakfast during Public Service Week. The final awards will be bestowed Sept. 20 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington. The eventual recipients will be chosen by a committee that includes Time Warner Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Bewkes; Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Procter and Gamble Deborah Majoras; the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation President Larry Kramer; National Treasury Employees Union National President Tony Reardon; Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.; and other leaders from government, academia, the private sector and the philanthropic sector.

The awards are named for the partnership’s founder, businessman and hedge fund manager Samuel J. Heyman.