317
Statement by the President on Announcing the Recipients of the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service.
July 19, 1967

THESE SIX remarkable men are modern pioneers. We live today in a world of such rapid change in science, international affairs, and socio-economic patterns that traditional, inherited knowledge is no longer sufficient to solve urgent problems. We must seek new answers from people who have sought and mastered new knowledge, from people unafraid to voice constructive discontent with tried but no longer true methods, from people with the energy and the initiative to break through the long-accepted boundaries of action. Such are the six selected for this high civilian honor, and we are both fortunate and proud to have them in our Nation’s public service.

We are fortunate and proud, also, to have in the Federal Government the kind of civilian career service that can attract persons of such outstanding excellence and afford scope and opportunity for the exercise of their superlative talents. In honoring these men we recognize anew the extraordinary qualifies of skill, energy, and dedication that are to be found in the career ranks of the Federal service.

NOTE: The President’s statement was made public as part of a White House release announcing the recipients of the 1967 President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, the highest honor conferred on a career employee of the Federal Government. The release noted that 46 persons, recommended by an advisory board and selected by the President, had received the award since the beginning of the program in 1957 (3 Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 1037).

The names of the six 1967 recipients follow: Myrl E. Alexander, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, cited as "a progressive and farsighted administrator" who has "pioneered, developed, and led to reality more effective methods of treatment in correctional institutions, which have increased the offender’s capacity to reenter community life as a responsible citizen"; Arthur E. Hess, Director, Bureau of Health Insurance, Social Security Administration, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, cited as having "organized and launched, in record time and with remarkable success, the complicated and far-reaching Medicare program"; Sherman Kent, Director of National Estimates and Chairman of the Board of National Estimates, Central Intelligence Agency, cited as "a distinguished scholar and creative pioneer in the theory and practice of foreign intelligence," who has been "an inspiring leader in the intelligence community and a wise counselor to the highest officials of the Government"; C. Payne Lucas, Deputy Director, Africa Region, Peace Corps, cited as an "inspired and spiting leader of Peace Corps Volunteers," who has been "a vital force in guiding Volunteers and staff to new levels of accomplishment and friendship in the developing countries of Africa"; William I. Porter, Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Department of State, cited as having "pioneered in unifying United States civilian aid programs in South Vietnam and greatly increased their effectiveness in improving the lot of the Vietnamese people in the villages and rural areas"; and Carl F. Romney, seismologist, Department of the Air Force, cited "an eminent scientist in the field of seismology... [who] has made outstanding contributions to the development of a control system for underground nuclear tests and thereby has enhanced international cooperation in the interest of world peace."