Wilson Wins Rooney Award

Sara Redding Wilson, director of Virginia Human Resource Management, has been selected as the winner of the 2008 National Association of State Personnel Executives Eugene H. Rooney Jr. Leadership Award.

Wilson was appointed director of the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management in April 1998 and is the first person to be reappointed twice to that position since 1974. During her tenure, she has been instrumental in the re-engineering of human resource programs statewide and introducing technological solutions to HR initiatives.

She is the former executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Signet Banking Corporation and served as a member of the Management Committee. She is a graduate of Hamilton College with a degree in mathematics and the University of Richmond School of Law; she has practiced law for more than 20 years.  Wilson served as NASPE president from 2006-07 and hosted the association’s 2007 annual meeting in Williamsburg, Va.

Delaware’s DelaWELL shares with Delaware’s Delaware Employment Link as winners of the 2008 NASPE Eugene H. Rooney Jr. Award for Innovative State Human Resource Management Program. Louisiana’s Retiree Rehire Database received the Award of Merit. The winning submissions, along with the other submittals, can be viewed in their entirety on NASPE's Web site. The winning submissions will be honored during the awards banquet on Tuesday evening, July 15, during NASPE's 2008 annual meeting, Strategic HR: The New Frontier, in Oklahoma City.

The Rooney program was established in memory of Eugene H. Rooney Jr., who served as NASPE president at a time of great growth for the organization. This awards program recognizes innovative state human resource management practices that ensure access and equity while enhancing productivity and service delivery. It also recognizes individuals who exemplify the character, qualities and influence that Eugene Rooney had on state personnel administration.

NASPE was established in 1976 to enhance communication and the exchange of information among state personnel executives. NASPE’s mission is to provide a national leadership forum to advance state government human resources through the exchange of best practices, strategies and solutions. The association strives to be recognized as the authority on state government human resource issues.