Washington-area officials honored with public service awards

The Washington-area chapter of the American Society for Public Administration honored three public servants Wednesday with its annual awards for service.

The David O. Cooke Award for Federal Public Service -- named after the longtime director of administration and management at the Defense Department who died in 2002 -- went to J. Steven Landefeld, director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Commerce Department. The award is co-sponsored by Government Executive.

"I have known Steve for many years and observed his accomplishments at BEA since he became director in 1995," said Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in videotaped remarks. "Upon taking that job, Steve began enhancing and expanding the agency's commitment to serving the user community by improving the accuracy, timeliness and usefulness of BEA data."

The President's Award for Outstanding Public Service went to Ira L. Hobbs, deputy chief information officer at the Agriculture Department. Hannah Sistare, executive director of the National Commission on the Public Service, won the Elmer B. Staats Award for Public Accountability in Government. Sistare is a former staff director of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Staats is a former comptroller general of the United States.

The American Society for Public Administration is dedicated to advancing the art and science of public administration. It has more than 10,000 members nationally.