Awards - PSHRA

Awards - PSHRA
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Awards
PSHRA Awards Program
PSHRA
is home to HR professionals who have given tirelessly to the advancement of our profession. We recognize the outstanding accomplishments of our members and the work they do on behalf of their agencies.
PSHRA Award Applications - Coming Soon!
Agency Award of Excellence
-  recognizes the overall quality, accomplishments, and contributions of an agency human resource program that exceeds the normal operation of a “good government human resource program.” The awards are based on the lenses and focus areas contained in the HR 20/20 Report: The
PSHRA Guide to Transformative HR
released in 2020. Additional information on the report.
Honorary Life Memberships
- recognizes and honors persons who have rendered distinguished service in advancing or upholding the purposes of the Association. Honorary Life Members shall have at no fee (recipient will no longer be charged a fee for membership), all the rights and privileges of Individual members, including the right to hold Association office and to vote on all issues requiring a decision by the membership. According to the PSHRA bylaws, “Not more than two persons can be awarded Honorary Life Memberships in one year.”
Chapter Award of Excellence
-  recognizes those chapters who significantly advance and enhance the human resource profession through innovative membership recruitment/retention strategies, excellent educational programs, and quality member communications.
If you have questions, please contact us at
[email protected]
Excellence in Public Sector HR
PSHRA recognizes the accomplishments of its individual and agency members, chapters, and volunteers with its annual Awards of Excellence.
Awards celebrate the achievements of exemplary leaders and advocates whose contributions have advanced public sector HR. Awardees have created better places to work for those who serve the public good.
2025 Awards Press Release
President's Award
The
President’s Award
recognizes the current PSHRA president for leadership of the association and in the field of public sector HR.
Andrea Cutler
, PSHRA-SCP
, 2025 PSHRA
President, is the recipient of the
2025 President’s Award
Andrea has more than
30 years of experience in public sector
uman
esources
, and
has been with full service and contract cities in southern California.
After retiring,
Andrea
moved to Las Vegas,
where she
continues to do consulting work.
She
has served on the PSHRA Executive Council, the Western Region Board, the Southern California, and Nevada chapter boards and
in
several international committees.
She received the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award from PSHRA in 2019, the Muriel Morse Achievement from the Western Region in 2015, and the Gunther
Dumalski
Lifetime Membership award from the Southern California Chapter in 2016.
PSHRA Honorary Life Membership
Honorary Life Memberships
are to recognize and honor persons who have rendered distinguished service in advancing or upholding the purposes of the Association.
Cheryl Lewis Smith, PSHRA-SCP
is the recipient of the
2025 Honorary Life Membership
, given to recognize and honor those who have rendered distinguished service in advancing or upholding the purposes of the Association.
Cheryl has served PSHRA in a variety of roles, most recently as Association President-elect in 2022, President in 2023 and Past President in 2024, as well as an at-large member of the Executive Council beginning in 2019.
Cheryl has also served in various PSHRA committee roles through her participation on the PSHRA Fellowship/Scholarship Committee and the 2013-2015 PSHRA Nominating Committee. In 2023, Cheryl was recognized with the PSHRA President’s Award, in honor of her commitment to leading the Association and its mission.
Past Honorary Life Membership Award Recipients
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Cheryl Lewis Smith, PSHRA-SCP
Jennifer Fairweather, IPMA-SCP
Carol Rubino, IPMA-SCP
Mary Rowe, IPMA-SCP
William Cole, IPMA-SCP
Andrea Cutler, IPMA-SCP
Richard Stokes, IPMA-SCP
Cheryl Cepelak, IPMA-SCP
Richard Dukellis, IPMA-SCP
Mila Cosgrove, IPMA-SCP
Phyllis Lynes, IPMA-SCP
George T. McNeill, IPMA-SCP
Kimla T. Milburn, IPMA-SCP
Barbara Montoya, IPMA-SCP
Samuel L. Wilkins, IPMA-SCP
Achille R. Albouze
Carlos G. Arauz
Clifford N. Amsden
Albert H. Aronson
Carl B. Barnes
Ismar Baruch
G. Lyle Belsley
Sandra Biloon
Eileen Bitten
Charles H. Bland
Charles Blockett, Jr.
Ralph O. Bowser
Richard C. Brainerd
Alan V. Christenson
Frank P. Cipolla
Merrill J. Collett
Herbert W. Cornell
Margaret Cottrell-Boyd
J. Craig Cumbey
Charles H. Cushman
Arnold DeMille
William F. Danielson
Samuel H. Dean
Franklin K. DeWald
John J. Driscoll
William Duffe
Charles E. Dunbar
A.M. “Biff” Elliott
L. Wayne Etheredge
John F. Fisher
Jack H. Foster
J. Staney Fraser
Robert R. Fredlund
Edward C. Gallas
Nesta M. Gallas
Robert C. Garnier
Larry K. Goodwin
Harold C. Graham
Steven A. Harman
Joseph W. Hawthorne
Richard Heil
W. Donald Heisel
Lynn Hellinger
Robert H. Helmes
C.J. Hess
Gerald F. Hoddinott
Henry F. Hubbard
Thelma Hunt
George T. Jackson
John W. Jackson
Oscar B. Jackson, Jr.
Pam Kannady
H. Eliot Kaplan
Robert G. Keller, Jr.
Robert D. Krause
Philip M. Kundin
Ronald M. Kurtz
Angus Laird
Steve Lanclos
Robert J. Lavigna
Esther C. Lawton
Thomas F. Lewinsohn
Clyde J. Lindley
Joe Lunt
Sally K. Marshall
Albert P. Maslow
Samuel C. May
William E. McCarthy
F. Arnold McDermott
Henry J. McFarland
Doris McGuffey
David Hill
Charles P. Messick
Charles A. Meyer
Maude Meyers
James Mitchell
Sharon Morris
T.G. Morry
Muriel M. Morse
Nicholas J. Oganovic
Emery E. Olson
John M. Pfiffner
Enrique Pinero
Ersa H. Poston
Charles A. Pounian
Foster B. Roser
Richard A. Ross
Richard L. Rowe
R. Elliott Scearce
Charlie B. Shapard
Theodore L. Sharp
Norman R. Sharpless
William W. Shaw
Oliver C. Short
Robert S. Smith
Fagan Stackhouse
O. Glenn Stahl
Pam Stewart
Rosemarie Straight
James Stratton
John R. Stuart
Donald J. Sublette
Barbara L. Sundquist
Edwin L. Swain
Fred Telford
Susan Toy Stern
Lynda S. von Bargen
Margaret Sellers Walker
Kenneth O. Warner
Fred Weiner
Carl Wettengel
Maggie Whelan
Leonard D. White
S.J. Whitney
Agency of Excellence Award
The Agency Award of Excellence recognizes the quality, accomplishments, and contributions of an outstanding agency human resource program. Annual awards may be made in any of three categories based on agency workforce size.
Small Agency Award
The Small Agency Award is presented to an agency of up to 1,999 employees.
The
2025 Small Agency Award
has been awarded to
The City of Roseville, Calif
In 2025, the
City of Roseville rolled out
initiatives including Be Well COR(E), a citywide wellness initiative designed to foster a positive and thriving workplace environment by supporting the City’s approximately 1,300 full-time employees and 300-700
temporary
employees in their efforts to improve their physical, mental and financial well-being.
Past Small Agency Award Recipients
Expand
2025 - City of Roseville, Calif.
2024 - City of Kerrville, TX
2023 - City of Port St. Lucie, Fla.
2022 - City of Tamarac, Fla.
2021 - No award
2020 - City of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
2019 - City of Cape Coral, Fla.
Medium Agency Award
The
Medium Agency Award
is presented to an agency of 2,000 to 9,999 employees.
DeKalb County Governmen
t (Ga.) is the recipient of the
2025 Medium Agency Award
. With roughly 6,500 employees across 44 departments, DeKalb County Government serves a population of more than 765,000 residents and 18,000 businesses.
The County’s HR team’s recent achievements include helping to transform the way policy is developed, communicated and executed across the organization through its Policy Council program, an all-digital, data-informed platform that acts as a central mechanism for advancing HR’s role in shaping leadership, culture, talent, technology and communications countywide.
Past Medium Agency Award Recipients
Expand
2025 - Dekalb County Government, GA
2024 - Johnson County Gov., Olathe, KS
2023  - No award
2022  - Wake County, North Carolina
2021 - No award
2020 - City of Newport News, Virginia
2019 - City of Henderson, Nevada
Large Agency Award
The
Large Agency Award
is presented to an agency of 10,000 employees or more.
The 2025 recipient of the
Large Agency Award
is the
Louisiana State Civil Service
The Louisiana State Civil Service rolled out
a number of
initiatives designed to help it excel at providing public services above and beyond the norm. For example, the agency—which has more than
38,000 employees
—introduced its skills-first Hiring Framework strategy, developed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of talent acquisition within state government.
Past Large Agency Award Recipients
Expand
2025 - Louisiana State Civil Service
2024 - City of Houston, Texas
2023 - City of San Antonio, Texas and County of San Diego, Calif.
2022 - no award
2021 - no award
2020 - no award
2019 - Louisiana Department of State Civil Service
Chapter Award of Excellence
The
Chapter Award of Excellence
recognizes a chapter that has significantly advanced and enhanced the public sector HR profession through innovative membership recruitment/retention strategies, excellent educational programs, and quality member communication.
The 2025 recipient is
PSHRA’s
Nevada Chapter
The Nevada Chapter has experienced significant growth in membership, including expansion into Northern Nevada. The Nevada Chapter has also prioritized the delivery of high-impact and future-focused content to HR professionals in the state, securing nationally recognized speakers for Chapter events and collaborating with partner organizations to offer broader resources and specialized content.
Past Chapter of Excellence Award Recipients
Expand
2025 - Nevada Chapter
2024 - North Carolina Chapter
2023 - Nevada Chapter
2022 - Colorado Chapter
2021 - Patuxent River Basin Chapter
2020 - no award
2019 - Sacramento, Mother Lode Chapter
Making public sector work better®.
Past Awards
Warner W. Stockberger Achievement Award
The Stockberger Achievement Award was established in 1948 to honor the memory of Dr. Warner W. Stockberger, the first director of personnel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who also served as the first president of the Society for Personnel Administration. The award recognized and honored a person in public or private life who has made an outstanding contribution toward the improvement of public personnel management at any level of government.
Past Recipients
Expand
2020: Neil Reichenberger
2019: Samuel Wilkins, IPMA-SCP
2018: Trish Holliday, Ph.D., IPMA-SCP
2017: Pan Suk Kim, Ph.D.
2016: Richard Heil, IPMA-SCP
2015: Christine M. Major, IPMA-SCP
2014: Robert M. Tobias
2013: Oscar B. Jackson, Jr., IPMA-SCP
2012: John Berry
2011: Fagan D. Stackhouse, IPMA-SCP
2010: Reginald F. Wells, Ph.D.
2009: Max Stier
2008: Rosslyn S. Kleeman
2007: Donald F. Kettl
2006: John Palguta
2005: David Walker
2004: Jonathan Brock
2003: Frank P. Cipolla
2002: Richard C. Brainerd
2001: Samuel H. Dean
2000: Robert J. Lavigna
1998: George C. Sinnott
1997: Dave Ulrich
1996: Margaret Sellers Walker
1995: Sandra Biloon
1994: Barbara L. Sundquist
1993: Charles A. Pounian
1992: A.M. “Biff” Elliott
1991: Constance B. Newman
1990: Augustus F. Hawkins
1989: Thomas F. Lewinsohn
1988: James M. Mitchell
1987: William F. Danielson
1986: Ersa H. Poston
1985: Robert D. Krause
1984: Muriel M. Morse
1983: Thelma Hunt
1982: Henry F. Hubbard
1981: Donald B. Hayman
1980: Merrill J. Collett
1979: Chester A. Newland
1978: Alan K. Campbell
1977: Emery E. Olson
1976: Esther C. Lawton
1975: Winston W. Crouch
1974: F. Arnold McDermott
1973: Franklin K. DeWald
1972: Elmer B. Staats
1971: Robert E. Hampton
1970: Charles F. Mullally
1969: Kenneth O. Warner
1968: Carl B. Barnes
1967: Morris K. Udall
1966: Robert H. Wiley
1965: Arthur J. Goldberg
1964: Warren B. Irons
1963: Dale Yoder
1962: Rensis Likert
1961: O. Glenn Stahl
1960: Roger W. Jones
1959: Albert H. Aronson
1958: Marion B. Folsom
1957: John W. Macy, Jr.
1956: James P. Mitchell
1955: Harold W. Dodds
1954: Leonard D. White
1953: T. Roy Reid
1952: Robert Ramspeck
1951: Gordon R. Clapp
1950: Frederick M. Davenport
1949: Ismar Baruch
1948: Arthur S. Flemming
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