AUGUSTA – The Maine Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration has named name its 2005 Public Administrator of the Year and Maine Public Service award winner.

Denise Lord from the Maine Department of Corrections has been named the Public Administrator of the Year. The Maine Public Service award goes to Phil Meldrum of Lewiston, a member of the Maine Occupational Safety and Health Board.

A resident of Belgrade, Lord has been in state government for 26 years. She started her career as librarian at the Maine State Planning Office and now serves as associate commissioner in the Department of Corrections.

While at the State Planning Office, Lord was instrumental in creating Maine’s growth management and waste management programs.

Lord has helped transition Maine’s correction system to one where victims are respected and included in the sentencing of their perpetrators and to one that incorporates a “what works” philosophy into inmate treatment programs; where treatment is designed to reduce recidivism based on research about what programs work.

Meldrum has been a member of the Maine Occupational Safety and Health Board for more than 30 years. Meldrum represents the public on the board. He has been active over the years, having served as chairman and acting chairman.

Most recently, he assisted the board with adopting a penalty structure for safety violations in public sector workplaces, which has proved to increase safety awareness and protect employees without causing undue financial hardships for employers.

Meldrum has been active in local affairs, having served on the Lewiston Fire Commission and the Lewiston Historical Preservation Board. He was the plant engineer at Bates College for 24 years.

The American Society for Public Administration is a professional society representing all forums in the public service arena. For more information visit http://aspanet.org.

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