Release No. SO01.97
                                                               
                                  Martha Cashion (202) 720-3310
                                    martha.cashion@usda.gov    
                                  Ron Hall (202) 720-5747      
                                    ron.hall@usda.gov          

USDA HONORS STAN PROCHASKA IN ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY

     WASHINGTON, June 11, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
honored Stanley W. Prochaska for his work in establishing a critically
acclaimed home page for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 51st annual
USDA Honor Awards Ceremony.

     "This annual awards ceremony gives me the opportunity to recognize the
quality, dedication, and excellence I have found while working with
individuals and groups throughout USDA," Glickman said.  "Public service is
one of life's highest callings.  USDA employees take pride in serving the
agricultural community and the people of America in a tradition of public
service that has been the hallmark of USDA's honor award recipients since its
inception. "

     Prochaska has served as a public affairs specialist with USDA for more
than 37 years.  Over the years he has played an integral role in developing
new ways to disseminate information as well as leading USDA in adopting
innovative communication technologies.  Three years ago Prochaska viewed the
then-infant Internet and World Wide Web as having the potential to serve as a
technological hub for providing USDA customers, located  across the country
and around the world, with immediate access to the information resources of
the Department.  He faced the twin challenges of accurately showing the
diversity and breadth of USDA's programs and making access to that program
information simple, quick, and thorough.  Through his leadership, persistence,
and resourcefulness, his vision became a reality with the successful launching
of USDA's home page.  The USDA home page can found on the World Wide Web at
http://www.usda.gov/.

     A native of Carrier, Okla., Prochaska currently resides in Fairfax, Va. 
He is an active member of the National Association of Government
Communicators, Communications Officers of State Departments of Agriculture,
and Agricultural Communicators in Education.  He is a past national president
of NAGC and, in July 1997, he begins a two-year term as the D.C. Regional
Director for ACE.  He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater
and is married to the former Dorothy Patten of Oklahoma City.
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