Richard Caswell Award
The Richard Caswell Award Program was established in January 1998 for state employees with 45 or more years of service. The award acknowledges and expresses appreciation for noteworthy, extended dedicated service. An appropriate statewide or agency-level ceremony is conducted annually for eligible employees.
The Office of State Human Resources administers the program. The Employee Recognition Committee serves in an advisory role to the OSHR Employee Recognition Program staff.
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.
2022 Caswell Award Video
Past Recipients
- Deborah Howell of Fremont, Radiology Supervisor of Cherry Hospital within the Department of Health and Human Services
- Gary W. Thompson of Clayton, Chief of the N.C. Geodetic Survey within the Department of Public Safety
- Karen Clevenger of Holly Springs, Environmental Specialist in the Air Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality
- Marcus D. Hammonds of Polkton, Anson County Clerk of Superior Court, Judicial Branch
- Michael John McArthur of Edenton, Chowan County Clerk of Superior Court, Judicial Branch
Department of Commerce
- Dr. Cathy Battle
- Sharon Peacock
Department of Environmental Quality
- Mary Johnson
- Katy West
Department of Health and Human Services
- Maude Body
- Connie Dixon
- Judy Hinson
- Pat Hovis
- Pink Moore
Judicial Branch
- Michael Huneycutt
- Shirley Johnson
- Evelyn McCleod
- Ides Pettaway
- Laurin Robertson
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
- Keith McLease
Department of Public Instruction
- Marilyn Johns
Wildlife Resources Commission
- Gary Dail
Department of Administration
- Jerry S. Rogers
Judicial Branch
- Robbin R. Creech
- Mabel H. Lowman
- Richard McCollister
- Linda L. Thorne
- Nell F. Wiggins
Department of Justice
- Phoebe H. West
Department of Health and Human Services
- Joyce W. Gardner
- Judith Isom
- Elaine Kistler
- Melvin Lynch
- Lynn Pressley
Department of Transportation
- Deborah Jernigan
- Donald King
- James Michael
- Jerry A. Parker
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
Department of Administration
- Vernon Shelton
Administrative Office of the Courts
- Barbara Graves
- Betty Kelso
- Amelia Linn
- Christine Smoot
Department of Environmental Quality
- Bill Moore
- Roger Thorpe
Department of Health and Human Services
- Arlena Jones
- Janice Martin
- John Miller
- Gerri Nash
- Carl Privette
- Clementine Pulliam
- Charlotte Rouse
Department of Revenue
- Alice Creech
Department of Transportation
- Clayton Evans
Wildlife Resources Commission
- David Allen
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences
- Noah Smith
Department of Environmental Quality
- Roy Byrd
Department of Health and Human Services
- Carole Allen
- Barbara McDonald
- Charles Philbeck
- Vivian Williams
Judicial Branch
- William Baggs
- Cora Billups
- Rebecca Gambill
- Fred Hatley
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
- Deborah Coley
Department of Public Instruction
- Betsy West
Department of Public Safety
- Grace Dilda
Department of Transportation
- Judy Heath
- David Moss
Department of Health and Human Services
- William Johnson
- Andrea Morgan
- Frances Nichols
Department of Insurance
- Francis Di Pasquantonio
Judicial Branch
- Shirley Brooks
- Patsy Jordan
Department of Labor
- Shelby Stephenson
Department of Public Safety
- Willis Fowler
- Sarah Wilder
Department of Transportation
- Faye McCullen
Office of Administrative Hearings
- Judge Fred Morrison
Department of Agriculture
- Linda Franklin
- Betty Griffin
Department of Commerce
- Helen Dalzell
- Donald Hoover
- Ruby Hodge
- Vena Jester
- Jerry Pickett
Department of Environmental Quality
- Linda Blalock
Department of Health and Human Services
- Judy Abbott
- George Allen
- William Allen
- Gale Bullard
- Judith Charles
- Wanda Freeman
- Smokey Garcia
- Judith Harris
- Velma Hicks
- Bessie Jernigan
- Daniel Morgan
- Carol Rados
- Brenda Smith
- Jean Spruill
Department of Insurance
- Robert Wade
Judicial Branch
- Betty English
- Marlene Fields
- Barbara Hawkins
- Rachel Joyner
- Mary Phillips
- Patricia Way
Department of Justice
- Judy McLamb
Department of Public Safety
- Myrna Eakes
- Nora Hunt
- Sandra Prichard
- Harold Webster
Department of Transportation
- Wayne Atkins
- Fred Barkley
- Clarence Cameron
- Owen Cordle
- Elisha Isaacs
- James Lane
- Grady Shepard
- John Shoemaker
- Johnny Southard