Golden Eagle Awards Dinner

The 2022 Golden Eagle Awards Dinner is a black-tie event that includes a reception, three-course dinner, and presentation of the Golden Eagle Awards. The Golden Eagle Awards recognize two outstanding Americans: one, an SAME Fellow, for their contributions to the A/E/C profession; and the other, often a non-member, for their contributions to national security. This year’s event will be held the evening of March 21, as the kickoff to SAME Capital Week in North Bethesda, MD. Registration is open to both members and non-members.

2022 Recipients Being Honored

Vice Adm. Michael Loose, P.E., F.SAME, USN (Ret.)
Outstanding Contributions to the Engineering Profession

Vice Adm. Michael Loose, P.E., F.SAME, USN (Ret.) is being presented with the Golden Eagle Award for outstanding contributions to the engineering profession. The first three-star Civil Engineer Corps officer since World War II, Loose retired from Parsons Corp. in 2018, where he was the Corporate Operations Officer.

Loose served 35 years in the U.S. Navy, culminating as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness & Logistics from 2007–2010. He was responsible for the policy, planning, programming and resourcing of the Navy’s energy, environmental and logistics programs ($32 billion annually) as well as the maintenance and operations of its ships, submarines, aircraft, and shore infrastructure. As the Navy’s first-ever Total Ownership Cost Reduction Executive Agent, he spearheaded enterprise-wide actions to shift programming to quantifying Total Ownership Costs based on accredited cost models. He also led the development of the Navy’s comprehensive Shore Investment Strategy for 70,000 facilities and $120 billion plant replacement valve.

A member of SAME since 1975, Loose has contributed at all levels of the organization as volunteer, mentor and leader, highlighted by his service as the Society’s 86th National President (2005–2006). Loose was invested into the Academy of Fellows in 2005. In 2016, he was selected to be one of five members of the SAME Foundation Founding Board, and later, elected to a three-year term on the inaugural SAME Foundation Board of Directors beginning in 2017.

A 1975 graduate of the University of Kansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Loose also holds a master’s in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington. A member of the National Academy of Construction since 2014, where he also served on its Executive Committee, and a distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and past Chair of its Industry Leaders Council, among many notable honors, he is the recipient of the University of Kansas Distinguished Engineering Service Award, the American Society of Civil Engineers Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research, and the OPAL Award for Management.

Vice Adm. Jerome Adams, Md, FASA, USPHS (Ret.)
Outstanding Contributions to National Security

Vice Adm. Jerome Adams, MD, FASA, UPSHS (Ret.) is being presented with the Golden Eagle Award for outstanding contributions to national security. Formerly the 20th U.S. Surgeon General, Adams recently joined Purdue University as a Presidential Fellow and the school’s first Executive Director of Health Equity Initiatives. He also is a Professor of Practice in the Departments of Pharmacy Practice and Public Health, and a faculty member of the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering.

During his appointment as Surgeon General from September 2017–January 2021, Adams served as the operational head of the 6,000 person U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He oversaw responses to three back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes and in the coordinated response to a once-in-a-century pandemic. A leading member of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force, Adams was at the forefront of America’s most pressing health challenge and was responsible for communicating to the public the ever-changing risks and concerns related to COVID-19.

Before being named Surgeon General, Adams served as Indiana Health Commissioner starting in 2014, where he led the state’s response to both Ebola and Zika, as well as an unprecedented HIV outbreak in southern Indiana and lead contamination in northern Indiana. In his position, Adams led Indiana’s Public Health Protection and Laboratory Services Commission, Health and Human Services Commission, Health Care Quality and Regulatory Commission, and Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Commission. He also served as Secretary of the Indiana State Department of Health’s Executive Board, as Chairman of the Indiana State Trauma Care Committee, as President of the Healthy Hoosier Foundation, and as Co-Chairman of the Indiana Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative Governing Council. He began his career in private practice at Ball Memorial Hospital, Indiana University, where he then later was named Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology.

Adams graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore County with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Bachelor of Arts in Biopsychology. He attended Indiana University School of Medicine before completing his internship in internal medicine (2002–2003) at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital and residency in anesthesiology (2003–2006) at Indiana University. Adams also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of California-Berkeley (2000).

2020-2021 Recipients Being Honored

Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers, P.E., F.SAME, USA (Ret.)
Outstanding Contributions to the Engineering Profession

Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers, P.E., F.SAME, USA (Ret.), will be presented the SAME Golden Eagle Award for outstanding contributions to the engineering profession. While Flowers was selected as the honoree in 2020, due to the pandemic an in-person celebration was not held that year and postponed again in 2021. The 50th U.S. Army Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Flowers served 35 years in uniform before transitioning to a successful career in the private sector with several leading engineering firms.

As Chief of Engineers and USACE Commanding General from 2000–2004, Flowers led an organization of 37,000 personnel, an annual budget of nearly $16 billion, and construction projects in more than 90 countries. He also began the military’s $20 billion reconstruction program in Iraq and Afghanistan, working closely with the State Department and international officials on infrastructure and water resources projects.

In addition to his professional career, Flowers has long been a dedicated member and leader within SAME, including serving as the Society’s 83rd National President (2002–2003). Also within SAME, Flowers served as a Regional Vice President, National Vice President, member of the Executive Committee, and was President of three Posts over the years. Flowers was invested into the Academy of Fellows in 1998. The Society’s Robert B. Flowers Small Business Award is presented annually to a Small Business Sustaining Member for exemplary contributions and support to the Society. Especially while serving as Chief of Engineers, Flowers was a strong advocate for the importance of small businesses to supporting the nation’s engineering challenges.

In 2018, the Army renamed its Best Sapper Competition to bear the name Lieutenant General Robert B. Flowers in his honor, as he was instrumental in creating the competition and advocated for those who passed the course to wear the Sapper Tab, which was permanently authorized in June 2004.

A 1969 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Flowers also holds a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Joseph Galloway
Outstanding Contributions to National Security

*Presented posthumously

Vietnam Veteran, Author of We Were Soldiers Once, and Young