Distinguished executives honored at Washington gala

The Senior Executives Association honored an elite group of current and former senior executives at the 23rd annual Presidential Distinguished Rank Award Banquet at the State Department in Washington on Thursday night.

"This evening has provided the recognition so richly deserved and so seldom received by federal executives," said Carol Bonosaro, president of SEA.

Government Executive served as a sponsor of the SEA banquet.

Distinguished rank awards are limited to 1 percent of career senior executives who, according to the Office of Personnel Management's guidelines, "have provided exceptional service to the American people over an extended period of time." The honorees receive a monetary award equivalent to 35 percent of their annual basic pay.

Bonosaro noted that the executives recognized at the banquet had saved the government more than $70 billion, either in direct savings or cost avoidance. Their work included helping to reestablish schools in Louisiana and Mississippi in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, running a 112-ship fleet that helped manage evacuations from Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel, and remaking the Defense Acquisition University.

Despite these accomplishments, David M. Walker, former head of the Government Accountability Office, sounded a cautionary note in his address to the winners.

"Your country needs you," Walker said. "I believe it is time for a call to action, because I believe our republic is at risk. We face serious sustainability challenges….While America is No. 1 in some things, America is not No. 1 in all things….We have grown. In many cases, we are out of shape and out of touch, but tonight you are clearly all exceptions to that rule."

Walker now heads the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which focuses on restoring U.S. competitiveness in trade and education and addressing the stability of entitlement and health care costs. He said the foundation would focus on many of the challenges he outlined for civil servants.

But, he said, government executives have a special role to play.

"Please recognize that it is important that each of you, especially now that you've won this prestigious award, leads by example," Walker urged. "The biggest deficit America faces today is a leadership gap."

For profiles of some of the Presidential Rank Award winners, see the special supplement in the April 2008 issue of Government Executive.