The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals
— or Sammies — recognize federal
employees who have gone above and beyond in
their work. This year, 33 fed...
Chief Technical Advisor, Office of Research and Engineering
Washington, D.C.
For nearly three decades, Cash has used his engineering expertise to extract information from airplane cockpit recorders to determine the causes of major transportation accidents.
Chief Medical Officer, National Disaster Medical System
Washington, D.C.
Dobbs created electronic systems to track the medical treatment to disaster victims, allowing medical teams to quickly assess emerging threats and resource needs.
SUSAN ANGELL, MARK JOHNSTON & HOMELESS VETERANS INITIATIVE TEAM
Veterans Affairs Department
Executive Director of Veterans Homeless Iniatives (angell) and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Sepcial Needs in Office of Community Planning and Development (Johnston)
Washington, D.C.
The VA team helped reduced veteran homelessness by 12 percent in one year as part of a national goal of eliminating veteran homeless by 2015.
Director, Patient Safety Solutions at TRICARE Management Activity (King) and Social Science Analyst, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Battles)
Washington, D.C.
The training program developed by King and Battles has eliminated thousands of preventable patient deaths each year due to medical errors.
Rodewald’s work added new vaccines and modernized the distribution of vaccines by publicly-funded programs, protecting a greater number of children against life-threatening diseases.
Senior Scientist, Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
Ft. Detrick, Md.
Friedlander steered the development of anthrax and plague vaccines now in clinical testing. He also made recommendations for responding to a bioterrorist attack.
An undercover investigation divning three continents led to the arrest and conviction of the “Merchant of Death,” the world’s most notorious arms trafficker.
Robonaut Project Lead, Robotics Systems Technology Branch
Houston, Texas
The team developed the first humanoid robot sent to space. The robot has a human-like hand that can take over simple, repetitive or dangerous tasks now performed by astronauts.
Senior Advisor, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Bethesda, Md.
Linder developed ways to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes in children, particularly among minority and disadvantaged children who are at the greatest risk for the disease.