Rising Stars: The class of 2008

There are scores of awards program out there — some might argue that there are too many. But 1105 Government Information Group’s Rising Star awards program remains unique by recognizing good work that younger people have done while also trying to assess their future potential.

The program started three years ago, when the Young AFCEANs of AFCEA International’s Bethesda, Md., chapter proposed the idea. We thought it was great then, and we still do now.

Meanwhile, the program has evolved. In previous years, the awards were announced only in Federal Computer Week. But this month, our sister publications are also featuring Rising Star winners. The Aug. 11 issue of Washington Technology profiles the industry winners, and this week’s issue of Government Computer News presents the technology winners. In the following pages, you will find the policy and management winners. The complete list is below, and we have links to the profiles in GCN and Washington Technology on FCW.com’s The Week page.

Like FCW’s Federal 100 awards program, a team of judges reviewed the nominations we received and selected the winners. You can find a list of the judges online. They took their responsibility seriously, and we thank them for their time.

The winners will be recognized at the GCN Awards Gala Oct. 22 at the Hilton Washington. We are also creating a series of e-seminars with some of the winners so they can share their insights.

I continue to be passionate about this program. The Rising Stars are remarkable people who don’t get enough recognition. And it is important to tap into that perspective if government is going to attract the best and the brightest.

Jonathan Alboum, Agriculture Department

Capt. Shaun Baker, Army

Carey Bandler, World Wide Technology

Capt. Eric Berard, Army Medical Department

Carrie Boyle, BearingPoint

Josh Caplan, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center-Pacific

Elizabeth Casale, PacStar

Siddhartha Chowdhary, Credence Management Solutions

Dan Ellis, Everware-CBDI

Matt Grote, Government Accountability Office

Tiffani Harris, General Services Administration

Maj. Gary Hockett, Pacific Air Forces

Jared Howerton, National Nuclear Security Administration

Lee James, Army

James Jones, Interior Department

Matthew Keeneth, Office of Management and Budget

Abraham Klinger, Naval Research Laboratory

Carlos Laureano, General Dynamics

David Lee, U.S. Postal Service

Mark Lee, Gen eral Services Administration

Vernon Lee, Microsoft

Yao Liang, New York City Police Department

Kimberly Lyimo, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Isai Marichamy, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles

Dana Marlowe, TecAccess

Gregory Mundell, Pragmatics

Angela Norris, Oracle

Dennis Papula, General Services Administration

Branko Primetica, Global Tech

Tricia Reed, General Services Administration

Dan Risacher, Office of the Secretary of Defense

Kevin Roberson, U.S. Postal Service

Yash Shah, SRA International

Thomas Smialowicz, Unisys Federal Systems

Christopher Traver, Bureau of Justice Assistance

Alex Turell, Agriculture Department

Richard von Bostel, Justice Department

Michelle Walker, Army Department

Jeremy Warren, Justice Department