Mr. Edward E. Belk, Jr., was recently selected as the 2012 Lt. Gen. John W. Morris Civilian of the Year.
Mr. Belk is the Programs Director for the Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Mississippi River Commission. He is also a member of the federal government’s Senior Executive Service. As Programs Director he is the principal advisor to the MVD Commander and MRC President on the programs, planning and project management activities in the division’s six district offices spanning the Mississippi River from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The Senior Executive Service is the civilian equivalent to the military rank of General Officer.
The Corps’ Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, will present the award to Belk at the Corps’ National Awards Ceremony on August 6, 2012, at the Summer Leader’s Conference in Little Rock, Ark.
Commanders from across the Corps nominate outstanding employees for this prestigious award. Mr. Belk was recommended to receive the award by a committee appointed to assist the Corps’ Commanding General in determining who, among six nominees, had achieved the highest overall standards of excellence and had made the most significant and noteworthy contributions to the mission, reputation and prestige of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Mississippi Valley Division is responsible for water resources engineering solutions in a 370,000-square-mile area, extending from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and encompassing portions of 12 states. Work is carried out by district offices located in St. Paul, Minn.; Rock Island, Ill.; St. Louis, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn.; Vicksburg, Miss.; and New Orleans, La.
Since 1879, the seven-member Presidentially appointed Mississippi River Commission has developed and matured plans for the general improvement of the Mississippi River from the Head of Passes to the Headwaters. The Mississippi River Commission brings critical engineering representation to the drainage basin, which impacts 41% of the United States and includes 1.25 million square miles, over 250 tributaries, 31 states, and two Canadian provinces.