Mark Johnston

Winners of the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals awarded in September. The “Sammies,” as they are informally known, are considered among the most prestigious awards for U.S. civil servants. “In this political season, we see people again and again tearing down our government,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, which sponsors the awards. “We will never get what we want out of our government if we focus solely on its shortcomings and fail to celebrate its successes.” Here are the 2012 winners:  2012 Federal Employee of the YearLynne Meryl MofensonBranch Chief, Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal AIDS BranchNational Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of HealthRockville, MarylandAchievement: Played a pivotal role in preventing the AIDS epidemic among children by studying ways to prevent mother-to-child transmission.2012 Career Achievement Medal RecipientJames CashChief Technical Advisor, Office of Research and EngineeringNational Transportation Safety BoardWashington, D.C.Achievement: For nearly three decades, has used his engineering expertise to extract information from airplane cockpit recorders and other devices to determine the causes of major transportation accidents, and once analyzed a quarter second of noise to help determine why a 747 exploded 12 minutes after takeoff.2012 Call to Service Medal RecipientJacob M. TaylorPhysicistNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyGaithersburg, MarylandAchievement: Came up with an original scientific theory that could lead to medical imaging in microscopic detail for better health care, while also developing innovative technology to allow greater quantities of data to speed across the Internet with less energy and at lower cost.2012 Citizen Services Medal RecipientSusan Angell, Mark Johnston and the Homeless Veterans Initiative TeamExecutive Director, Veterans Homeless Initiative (Angell); Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs, Office of Community Planning and Development (Johnston)Department of Veterans Affairs (Angell); Department of Housing and Urban Development (Johnston)Washington, D.C.Achievement: Led an interdepartmental program that reduced veterans homelessness by 12 percent in one year as part of an ambitious national goal of finding shelter for all veterans by 2015. 2012 Homeland Security Medal RecipientsNael Samha and Thomas Roland, Jr.Program Manager, Office of Technology (Samha) and Program Manager, Office of Field Operations (Roland)U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionAlexandria, VirginiaAchievement: Created a smartphone application that allows customs and border agents in the field to access law enforcement databases in real time, which has led to enforcement actions against more than 450 drug traffickers, weapons smugglers, illegal aliens and potential terror suspects since March 2010.2012 Justice and Law Enforcement Medal RecipientLouis Milione and the Operation Relentless TeamSpecial Agent and Group SupervisorDrug Enforcement AdministrationWashington, D.C.Achievement: Led a high-stakes federal undercover investigation spanning three continents that resulted in the arrest and conviction of the "Merchant of Death," the world's most notorious arms trafficker.2012 Management Excellence MedalElliott B. BranchDeputy Assistant Secretary, Acquisition and ProcurementDepartment of the NavyWashington, D.C.Achievement: Through savvy acquisition and procurement, ensures our warfighters have the right equipment when they need it, at the best possible value for the American taxpayer.2012 National Security and International Affairs Medal RecipientCharles ScovilleChief, Amputee Patient Care ServiceWalter Reed National Military Medical CenterBethesda, MarylandAchievement: Enables combat amputees to lead active lives and potentially return to duty, through an internationally recognized rehabilitation program that uses a novel sports medicine approach.2012 Science and Environment Medal RecipientNeal S. YoungChief of the Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung and Blood InstitutNational Institutes of HealthBethesda, MarylandAchievement: Saves lives through cutting-edge research and treatments for patients with bone marrow failure diseases, including the rare and once deadly blood disorder known as aplastic anemia.

2012 Service to America Medals Awarded

Summer 2013 - The Public Manager

Collaboration is not always easy but the benefits and potential force multipliers are well worth the effort. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are in robust collaboration to achieve a daring administration goal to end veteran homelessness across the nation by 2015. Each agency's success in achieving this audacious goal clearly depends on close and effective collaboration with the other. To be clear, the joint agency collaboration, like any meaningful partnership, must go beyond meeting together and talking about partnering.

Partnering for Performance at HUD and VA

June 2020 - TD Magazine

Synopses of Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data by Rishad Tobaccowala, and Lead from the Future: How to Turn Visionary Thinking into Break-through Growth by Mark W. Johnson and Josh Suskewicz

Mark Johnston

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