Contact
Jerry Berg
Media Relations Dept.
(256) 544-0034
The Web
Get releases sent directly to you!
Contact:
Betty Humphery
Marshall News
FEATURED PHOTO
Hurricane Jeanne
Marshall Headlines
Motions in nearby galaxy cluster reveal presence of hidden superstructure
Gravity Probe B mission begins collecting science to test Einstein's theory
For release: 11/20/02
Release #: 02-294
Four NASA Marshall executives honored with 2002 Presidential Rank Award by President Bush
Four key leaders at the Marshall Center have received the Presidential Rank Award, honoring executives for exceptional service to the American people. Tereasa H. Washington received the Presidential Rank Distinguished Executive Award, the highest honor for a civil servant. Dr. Jan Davis, John W. Kilpatrick, and Dennis A. Kross have been named Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award winners.
Four key leaders at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., have received the nation’s highest recognition for performance — the Presidential Rank Award — presented annually to a select few federal employees.
Tereasa H. Washington, director of the Marshall Center’s Customer and Employee Relations Directorate, is one of just six NASA employees nationwide chosen for the 2002 Presidential Rank Distinguished Executive Award, the highest honor for a civil servant.
The Marshall Center’s Dr. Jan Davis, director of Flight Projects; John W. Kilpatrick, director of Engineering; and Dennis A. Kross, director of Space Transportation, have been named 2002 Meritorious Executive Award winners. Agencywide, only 32 NASA executives received this award.
The Presidential Rank Awards honor executives who have provided exceptional service to the American people over an extended period of time. These individuals exhibit strong leadership skills, strength, integrity and a commitment to outstanding public service. They are judged on their accomplishments and abilities in the areas of leading people, leading change, achieving results, business acumen, building coalitions, and fostering communications.
"The honors conferred on these four Marshall Center employees are a source of pride and inspiration to me and the entire Marshall team,” said Art Stephenson, director of the Marshall Center. “Their selection demonstrates that hard work, dedication and achievement by those in public service do not go unrecognized, and that is tremendously gratifying to me,” he added.
Washington directs more than 250 civil service and contract employees at the Marshall Center. She is responsible for a wide range of programs, including human resources, employee and organizational development, internal and external communications, government and community relations, media relations, educational programs and technology transfer — the development of space technology for commercial use.
Davis oversees the more than 1,400 civil service and contract workers at the Marshall Center who are responsible for payload and science operations for the International Space Station. In that role, her group manages crew training, flight procedures and time-line planning for Space Station science operations. Davis is also responsible for the Chandra X-ray Observatory Program Office, overseeing operations of the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope.
Kilpatrick, who manages approximately 750 civil service workers, is responsible for comprehensive engineering services for all of Marshall Center’s programs and projects, as well as in-house development of flight systems. He oversees Marshall’s world-class facilities that provide test services and support technology development.
Kross leads 660 civil service and contract employees overseeing development of NASA’s advanced space transportation systems, in-space propulsion and advanced propulsion research. He is responsible for the Space Transportation Directorate’s fundamental and applied research, technology development, design engineering and test and evaluation.
The Presidential Rank Awards go to a select group of government executives in the Senior Executive Service – a corps of leaders who serve as a vital link between presidential appointees and the rest of the federal workforce. Agency heads from across the government nominate potential recipients, and boards of private citizens evaluate them. The president approves the recognition for those who have demonstrated sustained, high levels of accomplishment. The Distinguished Executive award may be presented to 1 percent of the approximately 6,100 career members of the Senior Executive Service. The Meritorious Executive award may be given to 5 percent of the Senior Executive Service members.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Washington. Each honoree will receive a silver pin and a framed certificate signed by President George W. Bush.
To learn more about the Presidential Rank Award, visit the Web site:
http://www.opm.gov/ses/presrankaward.html
For more information:
Newsroom Home | News releases | Photos | Fact sheets
Video | Audio | Bios | Press kits | Media services | Contact us