ASPA Honors

Our Editor-in-Chief Tim Clark reports from last night's American Society for Public Administration awards:

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and two longtime civil servants were honored last night with awards from the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

Voinovich received the "Champion of Public Service" award, recognizing his Senate service and his earlier work as Ohio governor and mayor of Cleveland. ASPA president Paul Posner of George Mason University praised the Voinovich for his sustained interest in issues that may have seemed below-the-radar but had long-term importance to key institutions, including the civil service. The senator was unable to attend Monday's ceremony because of a schedule change that kept him in Ohio. An aide accepted the award for him.

Reginald F. Wells, deputy commissioner for human resources of the Social Security Administration, received the David O. Cooke Award for Leadership in the Public Service. The award, which recognizes career achievement in federal service, was presented by Office of Personnel Management director John Berry and by Myra Howze Shiplett, a recognized leader in human resources management issues, who remarked on Wells' many contributions in the human capital arena.

Beverly H. Godwin, director of online resources and interagency development in the White House Office of New Media, was honored for her recent achievements in public administration. Presenting the NCAC President's Award to Godwin, I remarked on her 20-plus year history as a change-maker in government, including her eight years as a staffer and then deputy director of the Clinton Administration's Partnership for Reinventing Government and her subsequent eight years in the General Services Administration's Office of Citizen Services, where she was responsible for USA.gov and governmentwide online best practices. Godwin now continues to push adoption of new media by federal agencies from her post at the White House.