Top-notch civil servants lauded at black-tie gala

Federal employees whose work has helped make the world safer, healthier and greener were honored at a black-tie dinner in Washington on Tuesday.

The winners of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service's seventh annual Service to America medals came from eight agencies, and were recognized for their achievements in renewable energy, patient care, foreign affairs, law enforcement, homeland security and combating climate change.

Richard Greene of the U.S. Agency for International Development was named Federal Employee of the Year for his leadership of the President's Malaria Initiative, which has provided 25 million children and pregnant women in Africa with prevention and treatment tools, such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets, anti-malarial drugs and indoor spraying programs.

"We are very optimistic about being able to really fight and beat back malaria in Africa," Greene said. "And this is a big story because malaria has a dramatic effect on incomes and economic growth in Africa."

Stephen Andersen, director of strategic climate change projects for the Environmental Protection Agency, won the Career Achievement Medal for his role in implementing the Montreal Protocol, a treaty that has helped restore the ozone layer by phasing out 95 percent of the world's ozone-depleting substances.

EPA estimates the Montreal Protocol has protected more than 6 million lives from skin cancer and saved U.S. citizens more than $4 trillion in health care costs. "When you expand that to the entire globe, you realize this treaty has offered extraordinary value to citizens all over the earth," Andersen said.

The Call to Service Medal was awarded to 25-year-old Alain David Carballeyra, director of stereolithography for the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, for his work in transforming the Air Force's sole 3-D medical modeling laboratory into a cutting-edge facility for surgeons and rehabilitative specialists treating wounded service members.

"Franklin D. Roosevelt said, 'Happiness lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort,' " Carballeyra said. "Only in government have I come to understand the meaning of those words."

Improving medical care for veterans was a major theme of Rajiv Jain's work as well. Jain received the Citizen Services Medal for his leadership of a Veterans Affairs Department Pittsburgh Healthcare System initiative that is reducing a type of life-threatening, hospital-acquired infection at all 153 VA hospitals and other hospitals nationwide.

"I joined the VA thinking I'd work there for three or four years and then go into private practice," Jain said. "But I really enjoyed working with the veterans and helping them, and here we are 29 years later. The fact that you're serving the public, to me, is absolutely the icing on the cake."

Eddie Bernard, winner of the Homeland Security Medal, was honored for his efforts to prevent a catastrophic loss of life from natural disasters. As director of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle, he created a tsunami detection system that allows earlier warnings.

Bernard thanked his family for its support of his research over the last 38 years. "You may be surprised, but this [conversation about tsunamis] doesn't play well at Thanksgiving dinner," he said. He also used the spotlight to alert the audience of the three warning signs of a tsunami -- "feel the earth shake, see the water recede and hear a loud roar."

Steven Chalk, deputy assistant secretary at the Energy Department, received the Science and Environment Medal for his work in leading federal efforts to expand the development and use of renewable energy.

Chalk credited Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman for helping Congress pass two major energy bills in the last three years. Those bills "really established the right incentives for renewable energy, created renewable fuel standards and also dramatically increased the fuel economy regulations for our vehicles," Chalk said. "That's going to do a lot to help decrease our dependence on foreign oil over the next 10 years."

Ending injustice and empowering women in Afghanistan is at the center of Mary Katherine Friedrich's work as leader of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council. She was awarded the National Security and International Affairs medal.

Friedrich said she realized her work was making a difference when she asked a young Afghani girl what she wanted to be when she grew up. "She looked at me very proudly, looked me square in the eye, and said, 'I'm going to [be] president of Afghanistan,' " Friedrich said. "And that's what we're fighting for -- for people to have choices and for women to know that they can step up."

Mark Pletcher, a trial attorney with the Justice Department's antitrust division, was recognized with the Justice and Law Enforcement medal for his leadership of efforts to stop bid-rigging, fraud and corruption among U.S. officials and defense contractors in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. Pletcher has helped investigate and prosecute cases against 18 individuals to date, and has charged government employees and contractors for profiteering from U.S. military contracts for drinking water, life support services, armor, fuel and other necessities.

"A lot of these cases are a perfectly bilateral problem," Pletcher said. "A company and individuals that are military contractors are paying money [and] corrupting the bidding process through conspiring with a U.S. military official or a U.S. civilian who is in charge of the bidding process."

Honorees and organizers touted the award program's dividends for federal service.

"The recipients of the Service to America Medal exemplify the very best of our public servants," said Max Stier, president of the Partnership. "The work that they do touches our lives each and every day."