Finalists for 2003 public service awards announced

Twenty-eight federal employees were named Wednesday as finalists in this year's Service to America Medals program.

The employees hailed from departments ranging from Justice to Labor to Homeland Security. The awards, which aim to raise public awareness of the work done by federal employees, will honor winners in the fall with cash awards ranging from $3,000 to $10,000.

The finalists were chosen from "hundreds and hundreds of wonderful nominations and truly have extraordinary stories," said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization devoted to reviving interest in government service. The three magazines of Atlantic Media Co.-Government Executive, The Atlantic Monthly and National Journal- joined with the Partnership for Public Service to establish the awards program last year. Siemens and DuPont are corporate sponsors of the 2003 awards.

The nine categories within the Service to America Medals are designed to honor outstanding contributions to the country from federal employees with varying degrees of experience and from different professional backgrounds, including business, science, national security, social services and justice. The two top prizes, which come with cash awards of $10,000 each, honor a federal employee or team of the year and an individual who has demonstrated lifetime achievement in public service.

Ray McKinney, the administrator of the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration, and a team of engineers and mine rescue professionals are among the finalists for the 2003 Federal Employee of the Year Medal. McKinney and his crew, including an engineer who has worked for the agency for 30 years, saved nine miners trapped for four days inside the Quecreek mine in Somerset County, Pa., a year ago this month. Jeff Kravetz, an engineer nominated alongside McKinney, played a large part in assisting the rescue efforts by lending his 30 years' technical experience in structural disasters to the team, according to Katharine Snyder, director of the office of information and public affairs at the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Winners will be announced at an awards gala on Oct. 15 at the National Building Museum in Washington.