RALEIGH – Three N.C. Department of Transportation employees were among 21 state employees honored today with the Richard Caswell Award for having at least 45 years of public service.
The recipients, from nine state agencies, joined the distinguished ranks of long-serving employees who have earned the award since it was established in 1998 in tribute to North Carolina’s first governor.
The NCDOT employees who received the award were:
- William L. Faulk, a vehicle/equipment repair technician II in Union County;
- Gary "Douglas" Sossamon, a field services engineer in Mecklenburg County; and
- Stephen W. Jackson, an N.C. Ports Authority senior manager, Port Operations in Wilmington
Collectively, the 21 state employees have devoted more than 945 years to public service.
Caswell was a Maryland native who dedicated most of his adult life to North Carolina. He was the first Orange County clerk of court before taking up arms during the Revolutionary War. Caswell served his first term as governor from 1777-1780, and then again from 1784 until 1787. He also served as state controller, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, and a state senator until his death in 1789.
The awards ceremony was held at the North Carolina Museum of History.