2009 Finalists—Career Achievement Medal
This award will recognize a federal employee for significant accomplishments throughout a lifetime of achievement in public service. This medal is accompanied by a $10,000 award.
David Leckrone
Position: Senior Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center
Location: Greenbelt, Maryland
Residence: Silver Spring, Maryland
Achievement: Served nearly two decades as lead scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, which is widely recognized as the most successful scientific mission in NASA history.
Fran Ligler
Position: Senior Scientist for Biosensors & Biomaterials
Agency: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering
Location: Washington, D.C.
Residence: Potomac, Maryland
Achievement: Invented and developed various sensor systems that are diagnosing infectious diseases in developing countries, monitoring the air for biothreat agents and supporting clean-up efforts at Superfund sites.
Audrey Nelson
Position: Director, Patient Safety Center
Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital
Location: Tampa, Florida
Residence: Lutz, Florida
Achievement: Explored ways to help nurses and medical practitioners avoid back injuries, which resulted in a $200 million program across the VA to use mechanical lifts and transfer devices when moving patients.
Thomas Alexander Waldmann
Position: Chief, Metabolism Branch
Agency: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Residence: Silver Spring, Maryland
Achievement: Over the course of a 52-year career, made cutting-edge discoveries that have led to effective treatments for previously fatal forms of T-cell leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple sclerosis.
The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals are presented annually by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service to celebrate excellence in our federal civil service.
