The Presidential Rank Awards program is an individual award program granted by the United States Government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 to career Senior Executive Service

Senior Executive Service

The Senior Executive Service is a paygrade in the civil service of the United States federal government, somewhat analogous to the ranks of general or admiral in the U.S. armed forces...

 (SES) members and Senior Career Employees within the OPM

Office of Personnel Management

The United States Office of Personnel Management is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the civil service of the federal government. The current Director is John Berry.-History:...

-allocated Senior-Level (SL) or Scientific-Professional (ST) community. The awards have been given annually by the President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

since the establishment of the Senior Executive Service in 1978. The Presidential Rank Award honors high-performing senior career employees for "sustained extraordinary accomplishment." Executives from across Government are nominated by their agency heads, evaluated by citizen panels, and designated by the President. Winners of these awards are deemed to be strong leaders, professionals, or scientists who achieve results and consistently demonstrate strength, integrity, industry, and a relentless commitment to excellence in public service.

Distinguished Executive

The Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive is highest annual award for career SES members. Prior to 1999, Distinguished Executives received a lump-sum payment of $20,000. Congress raised the amount of the Distinguished Executive awards granted in 1999 to 35 percent of the executive's annual salary. All recipients also receive a framed Distinguished certificate featuring a gold emblem signed by the U.S. President and a gold Rank Award pin.

No more than one percent of the career Senior Executive Service corps can receive the Distinguished Executive Rank Award in a given year. Of the U.S. Government's 1.8 million civilian employees, only 6,800 have risen to be career Senior Executives.

Meritorious Executive

The Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive is second-highest annual award given to selected career SES members. The award may be given to no more than 5% of the members of the SES in any given year. Meritorious Rank Award recipients receive 20 percent of basic pay, a framed Meritorious certificate featuring a silver emblem signed by the U.S. President and a silver Rank Award pin.

Senior Career Employees (SL/ST)

In 2001, Congress first authorized Rank Awards for Senior Professionals, with designations, criteria and tangible awards similar to those for Senior Executives. The first such awards were given in 2003.

Distinguished Senior Professional

The Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Senior Professional is highest annual award for SL/ST career professionals. It may be awarded to no more than 1% of the members of the SL/ST corps in a given year. Recipients receive a cash award of 35% of their salary, a framed Distinguished certificate featuring a gold emblem signed by the U.S. President and a gold Rank Award pin.

Meritorious Senior Professional

The Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Senior Professional is awarded annually to selected SL/ST career professionals. It may be awarded to no more than 5% of the members of the SL/ST corps in a given year. Meritorious Rank Award recipients receive 20 percent of basic pay, a framed Meritorious certificate featuring a silver emblem signed by the U.S. President and a silver Rank Award pin.