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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
MEDIA CONTACT: Matthew Nehmer |
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April 24, 2002 |
(202) 994-6467 |
TWELVE OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVANTS REPRESENTING THE
BEST AND BRIGHTEST IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NAMED WINNERS OF
2002 ARTHUR S. FLEMMING AWARDS
GW to Host 53rd Annual Awards Ceremony June 11, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, to Deliver Keynote
WASHINGTON – The Arthur S. Flemming Awards Commission has named 12 federal employees as recipients of the 2002 Flemming Awards. Recognized by the president of the United States, agency heads and the private sector, the Arthur S. Flemming Awards honors individuals with three to 15 years of government experience for their extraordinary contributions to the federal government. Presented by The George Washington University, winners of the 53rd annual Flemming Awards will be honored at a June 11 ceremony. The 2001 award recipients are:
William
T. Colston, Pentagon Renovation Office Department of Defense
As
the Project Lead on the Metro Entrance Facility, Colston balanced local
transportation needs with the security requirements of the Pentagon, ensuring
requisite safety and security for the Pentagon community while providing
adequate public accessibility. Most
recently, Colston led construction efforts on the damaged section of the
Pentagon following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Kathleen M. Higgins,
National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST), Department of
Commerce
Higgins
has energized the Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) in fulfilling its
role of making NIST capabilities in the development of measurement technology
available to the criminal justice and public safety communities. The activities
Higgins spearheaded have resulted in greater effectiveness of policing
throughout the nation and the saving of lives — more than 2,500 law-enforcement
officers’ lives have been saved through wearing body armor meeting
OLES-developed specifications.
Donald
Soranno,
Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT), U.S. Treasury Department,
ATF
Chief Soranno managed a $16 million budget and was responsible for
the development of a new curriculum and training for the GREAT program – a youth
violence and gang prevention program designed for middle school children. Chief Soranno managed the development of
the curriculum, the implementation of the pilot program and its successful
release nationwide this past fall.
Major Williams deployed to Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, as chief, Joint Contracting Center (JCC), the most critical JCC in the Balkans and the hottest Army operations tempo deployment worldwide. As one of only 22 Air Force personnel in theater, he commanded a nine-person joint office supporting the 8,000+ joint warfighters of Task Force Falcon, Multinational Brigade East, the largest Kosovo Force contingent ever in the NATO led Operation JOINT GAURDIAN.
Leonard M. Hanssen, NIST, Department of Commerce
Hanssen is credited for developing and establishing innovative infrared technology for measuring optical properties of materials. These seminal achievements have established NIST as the world leader in infrared measurement science and standards and have played a critical role in the success of U.S. defense and remote-sensing satellite systems dependent on state-of-the-art infrared technology.
Michael K.
Powers,
National Reconnaissance Office, Central Intelligence
Agency
During his residence at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Powers introduced a rigorous, systematic approach to a series of Air Force demonstrations, gaining new insights and enabling solutions to problems left unsolved by past projects. His results have resonated with and impacted a broad range of government interests including NASA’s Origins program and the national intelligence program for space reconnaissance.
Stanley R. Snouffer Jr.,
NIST, Department of Commerce
Snouffer heads one of NIST’s premier testing programs – the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP). The CMVP was established in 1995 by NIST and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada and encompasses validation testing for cryptographic modules and algorithms. Under Snouffer’s leadership, the CVMP has become a highly successful, internationally recognized program that has issued an unprecedented 170 validation certificates representing almost 200 individual cryptographic modules from nearly fifty information technology vendors.
Dr. Peter Mark Wegner, Technology Center of Excellence, Department of Air Force
Through technical expertise and leadership, Dr. Wegner has led the development of technologies that offer unprecedented capabilities for future aerospace systems. These technologies will enable the U.S. to conduct missions in space, which were previously, impossible and will dramatically reduce the cost of existing missions.
John H. Burnett, NIST,
Department of Commerce
Dr. Burnett is being honored for developing and applying
world-class measurement systems that are critically needed for the design of
advanced photolithography manufacturing tools. These tools are used by the
microelectronics industry to sustain the rapid advances predicted by “Moore’s
Law.” In a spectacular example of
this development work, Dr. Burnett first measured an effect called “intrinsic
birefringence” which had been entirely neglected by the industry leaders.
Dr. Paul A. Newman, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center
Dr. Newman’s scientific work and leadership in stratospheric polar ozone research has led to a number of remarkable breakthroughs. He authored a number of early papers on the meteorology of the Antarctic ozone hole; his 1997 paper documented the dramatic decline of Arctic polar ozone levels during spring, and his 2000 paper on polar temperatures described in 11 NASA field missions investigating stratospheric ozone and was a project scientist for three of these missions. His work has been a key element to the direction of ozone research activities, and has provided scientific foundation for U.S. Government policies on ozone depletion.
Steven L. Rolston, NIST, Department of Commerce
Rolston is an innovator and leader in the study and applications of new physical phenomena related to ultra-cold atomic gases. Cooling an atomic gas to temperatures less than a few millionths of a degree above Absolute Zero, he has opened the doors to completely new fields of scientific research. Using innovative laser cooling techniques, Rolston was the first to create a strong coupled neutral plasma, a hitherto unexplored area of plasma physics. His measurements and analysis have explained mysterious aspects of the evolution of this unusual new state of matter
Dr. Suter’s contributions cover personal achievements in both technical and managerial issues. As a principal researcher in information signal processing technology he consistently pushed the fundamental principles of science through extensive personal study and collaboration with his peer group including professionals at the National Research Council, the Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute, and many nationally recognized researchers in academia. These arrangements resulted in formal publication of advanced concepts in Hankel and Tchebyshev transforms and their application to a broad spectrum of scientific applications for improved information signal processing.
In a speech before the Washington, D.C. Downtown Jaycees
in the late 1940s, Dr. Arthur Sherwood Flemming suggested that the group create
an award to recognize exceptional young employees within the federal government.
Flemming felt that a chapter in the nation’s capital was in the perfect position
to educate the public about the contributions young civil servants make to
America. In 1948, the Downtown Jaycees established and presented the first
Flemming Awards. Past Flemming honorees include Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(1965); Elizabeth Hanford Dole (1971); and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the
National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (1979). More than 400
individuals have received the award to date. 1998 marked the first year that GW
presented the awards.
Flemming’s exemplary career spanned seven decades of service to the federal government and higher education. His career began as a member of the U.S. Civil Service Commission in 1939. He went on to serve as president of three universities; director of the Office of Defense Mobilization; secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; chairman of the U.S. Commission on Aging, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Citizens Commission on Civil Rights; and co-chair of Save our Security Coalition. In 1994, President Clinton awarded Flemming, who passed away in September 1996, the Medal of Freedom in recognition of his peerless dedication to his country.
-- GW --