BATON ROUGE, La. – Two Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) employees were recognized today for exemplary service.
John G. Sanders, DOTD’s District 4 administrator, and Michael J. Stack, DOTD’s District 2 administrator, have been named as recipients of the 2007 Charles E. Dunbar Jr. Career Service Award, sponsored by the Louisiana Civil Service League.
During the ceremony, DOTD Secretary William D. Ankner, Ph.D., thanked Sanders and Stack for their years of hard work and dedication and congratulated them on their success.
Daniel E. Sullivan, executive vice president of the Louisiana Civil Service League, also spoke during the ceremony, explaining the history of the award and the criteria by which nominees are judged. These include commitment to classified service, contributions toward work or workplace environment, personal initiative, and volunteer career service.
Sanders joined the department in 1976 after receiving a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas. In his 32 years with DOTD, he moved up the ranks to become an assistant project engineer, then a project engineer, and eventually a district administrator.
Sanders has been involved in a number of noteworthy projects during his tenure, including several Interstate 20 projects and the Grand Bayou Reservoir. He was also involved in instituting an automated patching program that resulted in an extension in the life span of overlays.
Stack began his career with DOTD in 1978 shortly after graduating high school. While continuing to work full-time for DOTD, he attended the University of New Orleans and obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1987. Throughout his career, he has held many sub-professional, supervisory and managerial positions.
One of Stack’s most notable contributions was his significant involvement in the department’s preparation and response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he developed an innovative engineering solution to stop a breach in the 17th Street Canal – even as he watched the water from Lake Pontchartrain rush through the breach onto the streets and lawns of his own neighborhood. This method proved so successful it was adopted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the way to close many of the floodwall breaches in New Orleans.
Sanders and Stack received commemorative plaques at a luncheon hosted by the Louisiana Civil Service League Feb. 29 in New Orleans.
More than 600 classified public employees have been recognized since the Charles E. Dunbar Jr. Career Service Award’s inception 48 years ago. Thirty-four of the past honorees have been DOTD employees.
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