Public Service Nonprofit to Get $20 Million From Founder

Five years after founding the Partnership for Public Service, Connecticut businessman Samuel J. Heyman plans to provide additional seed money aimed at establishing the nonprofit organization as a long-term player in the federal community.

Heyman will give $20 million over the next five years to the nonprofit group, said Max Stier , president of the organization. Heyman founded the partnership in 2001 with a $25 million gift to focus attention on the importance of attracting talented people to the government.

"Sam is allowing us to build a long-term base for the organization," Stier said. "It's an incredible gift that allows us to run faster and harder."

During its first five years, the partnership has launched several initiatives to highlight the value of federal service and to chip away at the government's image as a bureaucratic bog. The initiatives, undertaken with federal agencies, universities and other groups, include an awards ceremony recognizing federal employees who provide vital services, a recruitment project aimed at getting college graduates interested in federal employment, an effort to streamline hiring procedures and an index that shows the "best places to work" in the government.

Stier said the group hopes to produce a report by the end of next year that takes stock of the overall health of public service. The report, he said, should help outsiders understand the challenges confronting the federal sector while providing guideposts and information that will be useful to federal managers and employees.

Heyman's interest in public service began when he got his first job out of Harvard Law School -- at the Justice Department in the Kennedy administration. His initial job as a department lawyer paid $2,500 annually. He left the government in 1968 to take over this family's real estate development business after his father's death.

As the head of Heyman Properties, he acquired other business interests and is chairman of International Specialty Products, a chemical company.

The partnership operates with a staff of about 30 and, at year's end, will have put aside $10 million in an endowment to help maintain operations for the long term, Stier said.

Heyman sees the partnership as "an investment that has been paying off," Stier said. "His view is that we have a long distance to travel and that we are on the right track."

AU to Honor Two Executives

William H. Grimson , chief operating officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and David M. Altwegg , deputy director for agency operations at the Missile Defense Agency; will be honored with the 2006 Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership this evening.

The award, in its 29th year, is presented by American University's School of Public Affairs. David M. Walker , the head of the Government Accountability Office, will provide the keynote address, the university said.

Grimson, a 30-year veteran of the CDC in Atlanta, is being honored for improving management and operations at the agency. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he was instrumental in establishing CDC's emergency operations center and helped create a national public health strategy for terrorism preparedness and response.

Altwegg, who lives in Alexandria, led a Defense Department effort to streamline the purchase and development of ballistic missile defenses. He also played a key role in linking budget and performance goals for his agency's programs. Altwegg has been a member of the Senior Executive Service for 20 years and served in the Navy for 33 years.

The award is named in honor of the late American University professor who served on the old Civil Service Commission, in the old Bureau of the Budget and at the State Department.

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.