National Public Service Award and Keeper of the Flame Award Winners Announced

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The winners of the prestigious National Public Service Awards and Keeper of the Flame Awards, the premier awards for excellence in public service at all levels of government, have been announced by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA).
“This year’s winners represent some of the finest public servants in our nation,” said Rosslyn S. Kleeman, Chair of the Awards Selection Committee. “Their tireless dedication to protecting and strengthening government deserves the highest recognition.” ASPA and NAPA proudly established the National Public Service Awards in 1983 to honor individuals who make outstanding contributions to the public. The winners are individuals who exhibit the highest standards of excellence, dedication, and accomplishment over a sustained period of time and who are creative and highly skilled leaders at all levels of the public service. These are the 2004 National Public Service Award winners:

• Daniel Fitzpatrick—City Manager of Peekskill, New York. As City Manager of Oak Park, Michigan, Fitzpatrick led efforts to bring the city back from the brink of collapse in 1993 to become the first city in Michigan to participate in the Michigan Quality Leadership Award Program. The International City/County Management Association recognized Oak Park with the 2001 Program Excellence Award for Innovations in Local Government. During his first year in Peekskill, Fitzpatrick led the city through a budget crisis and reorganized city hall to restart or complete stalled public works and development projects. His creation of the Code Enforcement Task Force has ignited efforts to keep pressure on illegal housing violators.
• Kay Goodwin—Cabinet Secretary of Education and the Arts for the state of West Virginia. Guiding the merit-based PROMISE Scholarship Program and championing increases in need-based financial aid funding, Goodwin has ensured that more West Virginia high school students enroll in the state’s colleges and universities. Goodwin also presided over a record expansion of academic and library facilities in the state and founded the Governor’s Mansion Arts and Letters Series.
• Donna Gambrell—Deputy Director of Compliance and Consumer Protection for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Gambrell leads FDIC’s most ambitious financial education program—Money Smart—which helps low- and moderate-income adults enhance their money management skills. Gambrell managed an effort to partner with more than 350 financial institutions to build a grassroots distribution system for Money Smart. Gambrell also directed FDIC’s public outreach initiative to prepare for Y2K.
• Howard H. Hendrick—Director of the Department of Human Services and Cabinet Secretary for Human Services for the state of Oklahoma. Hendrick has spearheaded efforts to expedite the adoption of children in the child welfare system by reorganizing the adoption process and increasing resources allocated for adoptions. Under his direction, the Swift Adoption Program placed more children in adoptive homes during the last five years than in the previous fifteen years combined. Hendrick also authored the Literacy Improvement Act while serving as a state senator for twelve years.

To learn more about this year’s National Public Service Award winners, visit http://www.aspanet.org/public/. To nominate someone for the 2005 awards, visit http://www.napawash.org/.

The Keeper of the Flame Awards were established in 2000 to recognize individuals who have continued to provide notable public service after their official retirement. These active retirees keep the fires of public service burning through involvement in local communities, civic or nonprofit organizations. These are the 2004 Keeper of the Flame Award winners:

• Philip J. Rutledge—Rutledge has worked tirelessly to promote social equity in governance. Rutledge chairs NAPA’s Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance, and he chaired the Academy Panel that issued three reports on environmental justice. Rutledge remains active in many aspects of ASPA. As Professor Emeritus for Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Rutledge has nurtured young faculty and established vital linkages in the community.
• John G. Stone, III—Stone co-founded and leads the Steering Committee for the Public Service Academy at Washington, DC’s Anacostia High School. Through 14 years of involvement with the program, Stone has played a critical role in accomplishing PSAs mission: to support students to stay in high school and graduate. Stone’s generosity and fundraising ability have led to $70,000 in scholarship awards to PSA graduates through the John G. Stone, III Scholarship Fund, which his peers established in his honor.

To learn more about this year’s Keeper of the Flame Award winners, visit http://www.aspanet.org/public/.html. To nominate someone for the 2005 award, visit http://www.napawash.org/.

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