Honoree Archive • Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

2020 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

Served as the government’s premier expert and spokesperson on infectious diseases during six presidencies, including taking a prominent role in seeking to protect the public from the highly contagious and deadly new coronavirus that swept through the country and the world in 2020.

Victoria Brahm

2019 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Victoria Brahm

Restored the quality and safety of a broken health care center for veterans that had become notorious for unsafe medical practices, excessive opioid use and a toxic work environment

Daniel L. Kastner, M.D., Ph.D.

2018 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Daniel L. Kastner, M.D., Ph.D.

Identified an entire new class of rare genetic diseases and treatments to alleviate suffering for thousands of patients in the U.S. and around the world

Phillip A. Brooks, Byron Bunker and Joshua H. Van Eaton

2017 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Phillip A. Brooks, Byron Bunker and Joshua H. Van Eaton

Halted a scheme by Volkswagen to evade emission standards, and helped secure a record $17.4 billion in legal settlements to reduce harmful pollution and compensate deceived car owners

Paul McGann, Jean D. Moody-Williams and Dennis Wagner

2016 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Paul McGann, Jean D. Moody-Williams and Dennis Wagner

Reduced preventable patient harm in U.S. hospitals, which resulted in an estimated 2.1 million fewer medical errors and saved nearly 87,000 lives and $20 billion.

Steven A. Rosenberg

2015 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Steven A. Rosenberg

Developed life-saving treatments for millions of cancer patients, pioneering the use of the body’s immune system and genetically engineered anti-tumor cells to fight the disease.

Rana Hajjeh and the Hib Initiative Team

2014 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Rana Hajjeh and the Hib Initiative Team

Led a global campaign to convince some of the world’s poorest countries to use a vaccine to fight bacterial meningitis and pneumonia, an initiative that is estimated to save the lives of 7 million children by 2020.

Julie Segre, Tara Palmore and the Team

2013 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Julie Segre, Tara Palmore and the Team

Stopped the spread of a deadly hospital-acquired infection through the first-ever use of genome sequencing to identify the source and trace the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, creating a groundbreaking model for the health care industry.

Lynne Meryl Mofenson

2012 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Lynne Meryl Mofenson

Played a pivotal role in preventing the AIDS epidemic among children by studying ways to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

Paul A. Hsieh

2011 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Paul A. Hsieh

Provided critical scientific information to convince federal officials that the containment cap on a ruptured deepwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was working, thereby helping end the environmental disaster.

Pius Bannis

2010 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Pius Bannis

Expedited the immigration process to quickly unite more than 1,100 Haitian orphans with their adoptive families in the United States following the devastating earthquake in January 2010.

Richard Greene

2008 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Richard Greene

Designed and launched the President’s Malaria Initiative, which has provided potentially life-saving services to more than 25 million vulnerable people.

Janet Kemp

2009 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Janet Kemp

Established a national suicide prevention hotline for veterans, which has resulted in more than 5,000 immediate rescues.

Douglas R. Lowy and John T. Schiller

2007 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Douglas R. Lowy and John T. Schiller

Made discoveries that led to the development of a vaccine for the virus that causes a majority of cervical cancers worldwide.

Nancy Cox

2006 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Nancy Cox

Led domestic and international efforts to prepare for a flu pandemic.

Orlando Figueroa

2005 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Orlando Figueroa

Led the development of the Mars Exploration Rover project.

Robert F. Clifford

2004 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Robert F. Clifford

Led investigation that resulted in the conviction of more than a dozen leaders of the “November 17” Group—Europe’s most notorious and elusive terrorist group.

Stephen McHale

2003 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

Stephen McHale

Helped grow TSA into an organization responsible for aviation security with more than 60,000 people, the largest mobilization of a new agency since World War II.

William L. Fleming and Ben H. Herren

2002 Winner

Federal Employee of the Year

William L. Fleming and Ben H. Herren

Brought to justice two of the men responsible for the infamous 1963 bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, nearly 40 years after they had committed the crime.