EIGHT NRC EXECUTIVES HONORED WITH PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS 

 President Obama has selected eight senior managers at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission for either Distinguished or Meritorious Executive Rank Awards for 2009. 

 “These outstanding executives have consistently demonstrated their integrity and 

commitment to excellence as public servants and have made substantial contributions to the strength 

of our agency,” said Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko. 

 This year’s Distinguished Executive Rank Awards go to David C. Lee, deputy inspector 

general, and Roy P. Zimmerman, director of the Office of Enforcement. Recipients of the 

Meritorious Executive Rank Awards are Miriam L. Cohen, Marvin L. Itzkowitz, David C. Lew, 

Keith I. McConnell, Loren R. Plisco, and Mark A. Satorius. The agency will recognize these 

individuals at its annual awards ceremony next month. Highlights of their valuable contributions to 

the agency are described below. 

 The Presidential Awards winners are chosen through a rigorous selection process. They are 

nominated by their agency heads, evaluated by boards consisting of private citizens, and approved 

by the President. The evaluation criteria focus on leadership and results. Less than one percent of the 

career Senior Executive Service corps receives the prestigious Distinguished Rank award each year, 

and less than five percent of the corps receives the Meritorious Rank Award. 

Distinguished Executives

David C. Lee, with over 40 years in public service and serving as the NRC’s Deputy 

Inspector General, completely overhauled the strategic planning process to ensure high 

impact audits and investigations that directly contribute to the agency’s safety and 

security mission. Audit and investigative reports issued by his organization have, over 

the years, been consistently recognized for superior performance by the President’s 

Council on Integrity and Efficiency, and contain meaningful insights and 

 recommendations regarding important issues that confront the agency. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 10-088 May 13, 2010
 

Roy P. Zimmerman, director of the Office of Enforcement, with over 31 years of 

government service, successfully led agency efforts to meet the challenges of enhancing 

security of nuclear power plants and materials in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 

September 11, 2001. He spearheaded the formation of the Office of Nuclear Security 

and Incident Response and substantially increased the security posture of the entire 

nuclear industry through enhanced security measures required in areas such as physical 

protection infrastructure, security officer training and qualification, intrusion detection 

and assessment systems, cyber security and nuclear materials security. 

Meritorious Executives

Miriam L. Cohen has served as the deputy director, Office of Human Resources, since 

January 2008, as part of her 23-year career in the federal government. Under Cohen’s 

superior leadership, the NRC hired a record number of new employees, further 

streamlined the agency’s hiring processes and developed new training programs to 

retain its high performing workforce. As an executive at the Department of Commerce, 

Cohen improved government services through innovative uses of information 

technology. 

Marvin L. Itzkowitz, as NRC’s Assistant General Counsel for Administration and 

currently Associate General Counsel for Hearings, Enforcement, and Administration, 

has demonstrated outstanding leadership in providing legal support on employment, 

EEO, procurement and administrative law matters. His advice helped ensure the 

availability of expertise needed by the NRC staff to respond to license applications for 

new nuclear power plants. Legal guidance he provided identified innovative measures 

to hire and retain well-qualified NRC staff and contributed to NRC’s designation as the 

“Best Place to Work in the Federal Government.” 

David C. Lew, director of Reactor Projects Division in NRC’s Region I Office in 

King of Prussia, Pa., has over 22 years with the agency during, which time he 

consistently provided exemplary leadership in promoting positive change, as evidenced 

by enhancements to reactor safety inspection and assessment implementation, 

identification of generic issues, implications, and significant collaboration and support 

of program improvements. He also supported the development of communication 

guidelines to meet the needs of external stakeholders and advancements in the agency’s 

fire research program. 

Keith I. McConnell, deputy director of the Division of Waste Management and 

Environmental Protection in the Office of Federal and State Materials and 

Environmental Management Program, has an exceptional record of achievements in 

NRC’s decommissioning and uranium recovery activities. He has been extraordinarily 

successful in leading the rapid expansion of the uranium recovery licensing program to 

keep pace with the worldwide resurgence in civilian nuclear power. He has also 

completed remediation of radioactively-contaminated sites undergoing 

decommissioning in a safe and timely manner. 
 

Loren R. Plisco, deputy regional administrator for construction, at NRC’s Region II 

Office (Atlanta, Ga.), has 27 years with NRC during which time his technical expertise, 

communication skills, and management competence have been widely recognized. 

Among his most recent successes, is the development and implementation of an 

improved construction inspection program to ensure future safe operation of the 

nation’s commercial nuclear power reactors and fuel cycle facilities. He was also 

instrumental in effectively implementing a revised reactor oversight program to ensure 

the safe operation of 104 nuclear power plants. 

Mark A. Satorius, regional administrator in Region III (Lisle, Ill.), has spent a large 

portion of his 19 years at NRC ensuring that the nuclear plants operate safely and 

focusing agency resources on early problem identification and negative performance 

trends at poorly performing plants until performance improves. He has been 

consistently successful in completing complex tasks, promotes trust and respect among 

all stakeholders, especially the public, and created a highly effective reactor inspection 

 program that has been a model for other regions.

 

 

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