News Release

OPM Director James Salutes Judges of Presidential Rank Award Nominees

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James today thanked members of a presidential review board for their commitment to serve as judges for a prestigious award.

Members of the Presidential Rank Award Review Board, 15 volunteers from corporate America, academia and local government, are serving as judges in the review of Senior Executive Service (SES) members who have been nominated for the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive.

For the first time, Senior Level (SL) and Scientific and Professional (ST) employees are eligible for a Rank Award, which recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to America.

James praised the members of the Presidential Rank Award Review Board for their service to America, saying they are helping President Bush achieve the “citizen-centered, results-oriented and market-based government,” he envisions.

As a memento of their service, each review board member has been given a copy of OPM’s recently updated Biography of an Ideal, which chronicles the establishment of the American civil service system.

This year’s distinguished review board judges hold positions with IBM, George Mason University, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, among others. Members of the 6,900 SES corps direct policy and manage resources for many of the federal government’s top programs in research, defense, the environment and homeland security.

James will receive the review board’s recommendations later this year and forward a final recommendation to President Bush. She has urged the judges to evaluate executives based on their willingness to “embrace new challenges as opportunities and who inspire and motivate the people who work for and with them….who put their heart into their work and set the example for the rest of the country, both the public and private sectors.”

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OPM oversees the federal work force and provides the American public with up-to-date employment information. OPM also supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.

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