Award affirms Holcomb's DHS work

The Association for Federal Information Resources Management (AFFIRM) named Lee Holcomb, chief technology officer at the Homeland Security Department, the winner of its 2005 Executive Leadership Award.

AFFIRM chose Holcomb for his outstanding leadership at the agency, and gave him a clock to symbolize that leadership is timeless and government leadership happens "24 hours a day," said Mike Sade, president of AFFIRM.

"The secret of succeeding here in Washington [D.C.] is surrounding yourself with good people," Holcomb said.

AFFIRM gave the Leadership in Service to the Citizen Award posthumously to Keith Jackson, chief information officer at the Forest Service until his death in January. His wife, Sheila, accepted the award.

AFFIRM also announced other leadership awards, including:

* Legislative Leadership: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

* Leadership in Industry: Ken Salaets, director of government relations at the Information Technology Industry Council.

* Leadership in Acquisition and Procurement: Robert Burton, associate administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

* Leadership in e-Government: Priscilla Guthrie, deputy CIO at the Defense Department.

* Leadership in Service to the Country: David Wennergren, CIO at the Department of the Navy.

* Leadership Award for Innovative Applications: Tish Tucker, for her work as chief of the Procurement Systems Agriculture Department's Procurement Systems Division.