Twenty-one state employees with 45 years of public service will be honored with the Richard Caswell Award at 2 p.m. today in the North Carolina Museum of History. The recipients, who work at nine state agencies, join the distinguished ranks of long-serving employees who have earned the award since it was established in 1998 in tribute to North Carolina’s first governor.
Collectively, the 21 state employees have devoted more than 945 years to public service.
“Many workers think about retiring as soon as they are eligible, but Caswell Award honorees demonstrate an extraordinary commitment and dedication to public service,” said Barbara Gibson, Director of the Office of State Human Resources. “With their deep institutional knowledge and capacity to grow with our evolving workplace, they have contributed substantially to a remarkable scope of work across state agencies – all for the betterment of the people of our great state.”
In addition to Gibson, the ceremony will feature remarks from Ronald G. Penny, Secretary of the Department of Revenue and, at age 65 and with 30 years of state service, the most senior member of Governor Cooper’s Cabinet. Awards will be presented by leaders from the agencies where the honorees serve. Steve Daniels, WTVD news anchor, will serve as emcee.
Recipients of the 2019 Richard Caswell Awards include:
- Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Timothy A. Batten, Kay Glenn Harris
- Department of Commerce: Raymond E. Grace, Leonard T. Tyson
- Department of Health and Human Services: James L. Butler, Andrew L. Coward, Steven Freedman, Tom Leeder, Barbara Roseboro Myers, Rosalie A. Pugh, Susie Sherrod-Sanders, Robert V. Young III
- Judicial Branch: Frederick G. Lind
- Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: Martha Battle Jackson
- Office of State Human Resources: Ronald C. Condrey
- Department of Public Safety: Cleveland Allen Graham, Patricia C. Jackson
- Department of Public Instruction, Governor Morehead School: Frederick McEachern
- Department of Transportation: William L. Faulk, Stephen W. Jackson, Douglas Sossamon
Richard Caswell was a Maryland native who dedicated most of his adult life to North Carolina. He was the first Orange County clerk of court before taking up arms during the Revolutionary War. He later became a member of the colonial assembly, where he was a champion for free public education.
With our young nation’s independence from Britain, Caswell became North Carolina’s first governor, serving from 1776-1780. He next served as state controller, returning to the job of chief executive from 1784-1787. Caswell also was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, then served again as a state senator. In 1789, at age 60, he suffered a fatal stroke while presiding over a senate session in Fayetteville.
For more information about OSHR, or to learn about opportunities to work for the State of North Carolina, visit https://oshr.nc.gov/work-for-nc.