ERDC Scientist Receives Outstanding Federal Employee Award
George Washington University and the Arthur S. Flemming Commission have named Igor Linkov, senior science and technology manager at the Environmental Laboratory of the U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC), as one of 12 exceptional public servants for 2020.
The award recipients, chosen from across a range of federal agencies, are recognized for their outstanding service in the fields of applied science and engineering, basic science, leadership and management, legal achievement and social science. Linkov was recognized in the leadership and management category for his work to support multiple agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am pleased and humbled to receive this recognition,” Linkov said. “This is a credit to the ERDC’s Risk and Decision Science Team’s achievements. I am extremely grateful for all of my colleagues, who worked around the clock during the COVID-19 crisis and were able to apply risk and resilience analytics and decision science to address urgent societal needs.
“I have also benefited from the vision of ERDC and [Environmental Laboratory] leadership, who supported my team’s research developing tools and methods that we were able to transition into practice in record time,” he added.
Linkov’s research into risk, resilience and decision science have produced tools and practices in use within the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services, among other federal agencies. He has published 26 books and more than 400 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, along with articles and conference presentations.
“In the 13 years he has been a part of the ERDC Environmental Laboratory, Linkov has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving understanding of risk and decision science at the ERDC, the Department of Defense and throughout academia,” ERDC Director David Pittman said.
Pittman added that Linkov has also distinguished himself as a collaborator and mentor, with more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows working under his direction.
The Arthur S. Flemming Award was established in 1948 to honor outstanding service by federal employees with between three and 15 years of service. Previous recipients include Neil Armstrong, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Robert Gates.
Linkov and the other recipients will be honored at the 72nd annual Arthur S. Flemming Awards, which will be held virtually this summer.
