Applications are due July 1, 2024 Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership

Review nomination criteria, the nomination package checklist and get to know the 2023 awardees and nominees.

Selected
About the Award
Award Presentation
Nomination Criteria

Since 1978, the Roger W. Jones Award has honored and recognized federal career executives for the Senior Executive Service who have demonstrated dedication to superior leadership in achieving their agency's mission and nurturing future managers.

Award recipients are not only committed to mission success, but also inspire those they lead, consistent with the career of the extraordinary public servant for whom the Award is named.

Roger Jones (February 3, 1908 - May 28, 1993) served seven U.S. presidents over four decades, including tours as Deputy Secretary of State, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission.

He extolled the importance of public administration and service, stressing the need to provide professional education for public managers.

Recipients of the Roger W. Jones Award will be honored in a ceremony hosted by American University during the Annual Key Executive Leadership Conference and receive a $1,500 cash award.

 

Nomination Criteria

The criteria for this prestigious award for active federal career executives (members of SES) are demonstrated exceptional capabilities in the following areas:

  • superior leadership which has resulted in outstanding organizational achievements
  • a strong demonstrated commitment to develop the careers of people who will serve as managers and executives in the future federal service, contributing to the continuing excellence of government

Any career civilian employee of the executive branch of the U.S. government or member of the uniformed services who has at least three (3) years of service as of June 30, 2024, and who is not retirement eligible, may be submitted for nomination for the Roger Jones Award.

Presidential appointees, other administration appointees, and career civil service agency heads (acting or permanent) are invited each year to submit nominations of career executives responsible to them who have demonstrated outstanding executive leadership.

Meet the 2023 Awardees

2023 Awardee Caryl Brzymialkiewicz, Deputy Inspector General Department of the Interior, Office of  Inspector General

Dr. Brzymialkiewicz joined the Office of Inspector General (OIG) within the Department of the Interior in September 2020 as the Deputy Inspector General. She works closely with the Inspector General to lead the full range of OIG activities, including assisting the IG in developing and implementing strategic initiatives, directing the OIG’s nationwide audit and investigations programs, supervising legal and administrative management programs, and engaging with critical stakeholders, including Department leadership and Members of Congress and their staffs.
Read More about Caryl

2023 Awardee - Francine Kerner, Chief Counsel, Transportation Security Administration

Francine Kerner assumed the position of Chief Counsel at the Transportation Security Administration in January 2002. She advises senior officials on all legal matters relating to protection of the nation's transportation systems.

As TSA's first Chief Counsel, she was responsible for providing legal advice and services in connection with the largest mobilization of a civilian government agency since World War II. This mobilization resulted in the hiring, training, equipping and deploying of more than 60,000 employees to more than 450 locations in less than a year and the execution of a three-year budget in excess of $16 billion.
Read More about Francine

2023 Awardee - Deborah Stephens, Deputy Chief Information Officer United States Patent & Trademark Office

Deborah Stephens is the Deputy Chief Information Officer for the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She is the principal advisor to the Chief Information Officer, manages day-to-day OCIO operations, ensures value delivery across four product lines, and leads over 600 federal employees in their IT modernization efforts, guiding continual improvements to transform IT for maximum stakeholder value.

Ms. Stephens has served the USPTO for over 25 years in multiple key leadership roles. Prior to the OCIO, she was the Associate Commissioner for the Office of Patent Information Management, providing strategic direction and leading the improvement of information systems for patent applications. 
Read More about Deborah

2023 Awardee - Orice Williams Brown, Chief Operating Officer, Government Accountability Office

As GAO's Chief Operating Officer, Orice Williams Brown assists the Comptroller General in providing agency leadership and vision. She is responsible for day-to-day agency management to ensure that GAO effectively supports Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities. Orice also oversees the development of hundreds of reports and testimonies to Congress each year. These and other GAO initiatives provide critical information for decision making, save the taxpayers billions of dollars, and improve a wide range of government programs and services.
Read More about Orice

Meet the 2023 Nominees

Pius Aiyelawo, Chief Operating Officer, National Institutes of Health

Nicholas Boshears, Special Agent in Charge Federal Bureau of Investigation

Ruth Buckley, Deputy Assistant Administrator U.S. Agency for International Development

Alberto Flores, Port Director U.S. Customs & Border Protection

James Izzard, Deputy Inspector General Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General

Jason Malmstrom, Assistant Inspector General Department of Justice  Office of Inspector General

Bryan Musselman, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Internal Revenue Service

Amy Peeples, Deputy Director Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Victoria Short, Executive Director  Office of Procurement Operations Department of Homeland Security

James Amato, Executive Technical Director U.S. Army Test & Evaluation Command

Rose Brophy, Director of Field Operations U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Holly Carey, Chief Financial Officer Army National Guard

Mark Freeman, Director of  the Civil Division’s Appellate Staff Department of Justice

Alfred Johnson, Deputy Director of Management National Institutes of Health

Giget Kuroski, Section Chief Federal Bureau of Investigation

Edward Mays, Deputy Assistant Commissioner U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Robert Owens, Deputy Inspector General  Department of Health and Human Services  Office of Inspector General

Raphael Ramos, Warden Federal Bureau of Prisons

Dianne Babski, Associate Director for Library Operations National Institutes of Health

Casey Durst, Executive Director of Operations U.S. Customs & Border Protection

L. Cristina Griffith, Assistant Director of Human Resource Management Federal Bureau of Prisons

Jacqueline Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior

Keith Lamirande, Executive Officer & Associate Director for Administration National Institutes of Health

Reginald Mitchell, Chief Financial Officer U.S. Agency for International Development

Kathryn Patterson, Division Counsel Internal Revenue Service

René Schwartzman, Director, Campus Examination Internal Revenue Service

Kathryn Yurkanin, Principal Deputy Department of the Army

 

Roger W. Jones Award Selection Committee 

Dr. Patrick Malone
Director, Key Executive Leadership Programs; Roger W. Jones Award Committee Chair, School of Public Affairs, American University

David S. C. Chu
President, Institute for Defense Analyses; Co-Chairman, Transition 2017, National Academy of Public Administration

Ed Deseve
Co-Chairman, Transition 2017, National Academy of Public Administration; Executive in Residence, Brookings Executive Education; former Special Adviser to the President

Mortimer Downey
President, Mort Downey Consulting, LLC; National Academy of Public Administration Fellow; former Deputy Secretary of U.S. Department of Transportation

Terry Gerton
President and CEO, National Academy of Public Administration

Sallyanne Harper
Past President, Association of Federal Enterprise Risk Management; National Academy of Public Administration Fellow; Member Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board

David Mader
Civilian Sector Chief Strategy Officer, Deloitte

Bob Tobias
Distinguished Practitioner in Residence; Former Director, Key Executive Leadership Programs