Fifty-four senior executives win Presidential Distinguished Rank Awards

Fifty-four senior executives were honored Thursday with the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award.

Together, the top civil servants have saved the government more than $36 billion, according to a review of their accomplishments by the Senior Executives Association.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Agriculture Department received the most awards, with five awardees each.

Small Business Administration director Karen Mills was set to give remarks at the banquet celebrating the awardees, and several agency leaders, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Office of Management and Personnel Director John Berry, planned to attend.

This year’s winners provided legal advice to Treasury Department officials as they crafted legislation to address the banking crisis of 2008, helped coordinate the U.S. response to the earthquake in Haiti, formulated programs for toxic vehicle emissions, protected endangered animals after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, provided the analysis to intercept a decaying satellite in orbit, and accomplished many other achievements.

Distinguished Rank recipients receive a lump-sum payment equal to 35 percent of their annual basic pay and a framed certificate signed by the president, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

The president has honored top feds with rank awards every year since 1978, when the Senior Executive Service was established.

Click here for a complete list of winners.

Correction: An incorrect link has been fixed.