The Presidential Rank Awards program is an individual award program granted by the United States government to career Senior Executive Service (SES) members and Senior Career Employees within the OPM-allocated Senior-Level (SL) or Scientific-Professional (ST) community. The awards have been given annually by the President of the United States since the establishment of the Senior Executive Service in 1978 except for a brief period of suspension from 2013 to 2014. 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 s