CEF Awardees
Champions of education who have received awards from CEF since 1986
James G. O'Hara Education Leadership Award
- 1986: The Honorable Jim Wright, Representative from Texas
- 1987: The Honorable William D. Ford, Representative from Michigan
- 1988: The Honorable Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., Representative from Massachusetts
The Honorable Robert T. Stafford, Senator from Vermont - 1989: The Honorable Augustus F. Hawkins, Representative from California
- 1990: The Honorable Claiborne Pell, Senator from Rhode Island
The Honorable William H. Natcher, Representative from Kentucky - 1991: The Honorable John Brademas, Representative from Indiana
- 1992: The Honorable Robert C. Byrd, Senator from West Virginia
- 1993: The Honorable Robert V. Dellums, Representative from California
- 1994: The Honorable Major R. Owens, Representative from New York
- 1995: The Honorable James M. Jeffords, Senator from Vermont
The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts - 1997: The Honorable Christopher J. Dodd, Senator from Connecticut
The Honorable Arlen Specter, Senator from Pennsylvania - 1998: The Honorable Louis Stokes, Representative from Ohio
- 2001: The Honorable Tom Harkin, Senator from Iowa
- 2003: The Honorable David R. Obey, Representative from Wisconsin
- 2012: The Honorable Richard Durbin, Senator from Illinois
- 2016: The Honorable Rubén Hinojosa, Representative from Texas
- 2021: The Honorable Robert “Bobby” Scott, Representative from Virginia
Charles Wilson Lee Citizen Service Award
- 1988: Mr. Owen B. Butler, Former Chairman, Procter & Gamble, Incorporated
- 1989: Mr. Charles W. Lee, Former Executive Director, Committee for Education Funding
- 1992: Mr. Jonathan Kozol, Author of Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools
- 1993: Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States
- 2007: Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton, for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund
- 2008: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation
- 2015: John Forkenbrock, Former Executive Director, National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
- 2016: Joel Packer, Former Executive Director, Committee for Education Funding
The William H. Natcher Distinguished Service Award
- 1986: The Honorable Mark Andrews, Senator from North Dakota
The Honorable Lowell P. Weicker Jr., Senator from Connecticut
The Honorable William H. Gray III, Representative from Pennsylvania
The Honorable Pat Williams, Representative from Montana - 1987: The Honorable Ernest P. Hollings, Senator from South Carolina
The Honorable Silvio O. Conte, Representative from Massachusetts - 1988: The Honorable William H. Natcher, Representative from Kentucky
The Honorable Augustus F. Hawkins, Representative from California
The Honorable Louis Stokes, Representative form Ohio - 1989: The Honorable Dale E. Kildee, Representative from Michigan
- 1990: The Honorable Tom Harkin, Senator from Iowa
The Honorable Dale E. Kildee, Representative from Michigan
The Honorable Silvio O. Conte, Representative from Massachusetts
The Honorable William F. Goodling, Representative from Pennsylvania - 1991: The Honorable Timothy E. Wirth, Senator from Colorado
The Honorable William D. Ford, Representative from Michigan - 1992: The Honorable Jim Sasser, Senator from Tennessee
The Honorable John Conyers Jr., Representative from Michigan - 1993: The Honorable Tom Harkin, Senator from Iowa
- 1994: The Honorable James M. Jeffords, Senator from Vermont
The Honorable Martin Olav Sabo, Representative from Minnesota - 1995: The Honorable Mark O. Hatfield, Senator from Oregon
The Honorable Olympia J. Snowe, Senator from Maine
The Honorable David R. Obey, Representative from Wisconsin - 1997: The Honorable Pete V. Domenici, Senator from New Mexico
The Honorable John M. Spratt Jr., Representative from South Carolina
The Honorable Nita M. Lowey, Representative from New York
The Honorable Michael N. Castle, Representative from Delaware - 1998: The Honorable Patty Murray, Senator from Washington
The Honorable Jack Reed, Senator from Rhode Island
The Honorable Connie Morella, Representative from Maryland - 1999: The Honorable John Edward Porter, Representative from Illinois
The Honorable David R. Obey, Representative from Wisconsin - 2000: The Honorable Ted Stevens, Senator from Alaska
The Honorable Steny Hoyer, Representative from Maryland - 2001: The Honorable George Miller, Representative from California
- 2002: The Honorable Edward Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts
The Honorable Kent Conrad, Senator from North Dakota
The Honorable Susan Collins, Senator from Maine
The Honorable Ralph Regula, Representative from Ohio - 2003: The Honorable Robert C. Byrd, Senator from West Virginia
The Honorable Michael N. Castle, Representative from Delaware - 2004: The Honorable Arlen Specter, Senator from Pennsylvania
The Honorable Jack Reed, Senator from Rhode Island
The Honorable David R. Obey, Representative from Wisconsin - 2007: The Honorable Dave Obey, Representative from Wisconsin
The Honorable Jim Walsh, Representative from New York - 2008: The Honorable Robert Scott, Representative from Virginia
- 2009: The Honorable Timothy Bishop, Representative from New York
- 2010: The Honorable Tom Harkin, Senator from Iowa
- 2011: The Honorable Rosa L. DeLauro, Representative from Connecticut
The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, Senator from Hawaii - 2012: The Honorable Chris Van Hollen, Representative from Maryland
- 2014: The Honorable Barbara Mikulski, Senator from Maryland
- 2015: The Honorable Nita Lowey, Representative from New York
- 2017: The Honorable Roy Blunt, Senator from Missouri
The Honorable Suzanne Bonamici, Representative from Oregon - 2021: The Honorable Edward Markey, Senator from Massachusetts
The Honorable Grace Meng, Representative from New York
Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding Education Advocacy
- 1996: The Honorable Richard W. Riley, Secretary of Education
- 1997: The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States
- 1999: The Honorable Edward Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts
- 2001: The Honorable James Jeffords, Senator from Vermont
- 2008: The Honorable Robert Byrd, Senator from West Virginia
- 2009: The Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States
- 2014: The Honorable Patty Murray, Senator from Washington
- 2017: The Honorable Jack Reed, Senator from Rhode Island
The Richard W. Riley Career Service Award
- 1996: The Honorable Claiborne Pell, Senator from Rhode Island
The Honorable Mark O. Hatfield, Senator from Oregon
The Honorable Paul Simon, Senator from Illinois
The Honorable Nancy L. Kassebaum, Senator from Kansas
The Honorable Pat Williams, Representative from Montana - 2000: The Honorable Richard W. Riley, Secretary of Education
- 2006: The Honorable Jim Jeffords, Senator from Vermont
- 2009: The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Representative from California
- 2011: The Honorable Dale E. Kildee, Representative from Michigan
- 2012: The Honorable Olympia Snowe, Senator from Maine
- 2014: The Honorable George Miller, Representative from California
- 2016: Thomas Skelly, Former Director of the Budget Service, US Department of Education
The Edward M. Kennedy Lifetime Advocacy Award
- 2009: In Memory of the Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts
- 2010: The Honorable David R. Obey, Representative from Wisconsin
- 2013: The Honorable Tom Harkin, Senator from Iowa
Outstanding New Member Award
- 1993: The Honorable Patty Murray, Senator from Washington
The Honorable Xavier Becerra, Representative from California
The Honorable Lynn C. Woolsey, Representative from California - 1995: The Honorable William H. Frist, Senator from Tennessee
The Honorable Lynn N. Rivers, Representative from Michigan - 2002: The Honorable Michael M. Honda, Representative from California
- 2003: The Honorable Chris Van Hollen, Representative from Maryland
- 2004: The Honorable Timothy Bishop, Representative from New York
- 2007: The Honorable John Yarmuth, Representative from Kentucky
- 2009: The Honorable Glen Thompson, Representative from Pennsylvania
Special Recognition Award
- 1999: The Honorable David Todd Kearns, Founder of New American Schools
The Honorable William Kennard, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission - 2000: The Honorable William L. Clay, Representative from Missouri
The Honorable William F. Goodling, Representative from Pennsylvania
Susan Frost, Special Advisor to the Secretary of Education and Former Executive Director, Committee for Education Funding - 2003: The Honorable Chuck Hagel, Senator from Nebraska
- 2009: The Honorable Jim Webb, Senator from Virginia
The Honorable Chuck Hagel, former Senator from Nebraska
Ellen Murray, Majority Clerk, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies - 2010: Cheryl L. Smith, Former Majority Clerk, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies - 2011: Bettilou Taylor, former Majority/Minority Clerk, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies - 2012: The Honorable Todd Russell Platts, Representative from Pennsylvania
- 2014: The Honorable Jay Rockefeller, Senator from West Virginia
The Honorable Hal Rogers, Representative from Kentucky - 2015: Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
- 2016: The Honorable Tom Cole, Representative from Oklahoma
Staff Recognition Award
- 2012: Leticia Mederos, former Chief of Staff, Representative Rosa DeLauro
- 2014: Erik Fatemi, Former Majority Clerk, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
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