WASHINGTON-- Bruce James, who President Bush tapped four years ago to head the U.S. Government Printing Office, was honored as Civilian Executive of the Year in a ceremony at the Washington Hilton hotel last night sponsored by Government Computer News. With more than 1,000 people in attendance, James was recognized for guiding one of the nation's oldest and most venerable agencies into the digital age using best practices from both the Government and private sectors. "In the last four years, I've had the privilege of working with Congress, Federal agencies, the courts, library community, and information industry, among others, to set the GPO on a course to meet the digital demands of today and the future," said James. "I am honored to receive this award as it validates the hard work of all the men and women of the GPO who have been at the forefront of our technological transformation." Selected for his forward-thinking leadership, James began a major transformation of the GPO when he was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in late 2002. Under his leadership, GPO has become a more efficient and streamlined operation, reversing a pattern of financial losses that reached $100 million in previous years. By the end of his first year at GPO, the agency's top-heavy organization structure had been collapsed and streamlined for faster decision making, redundant facilities across the country were shuttered, employment levels reduced, and the agency's finances had been restored to a positive basis for the first time in five years. Within six months of his arrival, the Office of Innovation and New Technology was established to lead GPO forward into the digital information world. "Our executives of the year are innovators whose work has substantially changed Government. Bruce James at the Government Printing Office pulled an old-fashioned agency into the 21st century and the age of electronic information," said Tom Temin, Executive Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of PostNewsweek Tech Media. Last April, James announced his intention to return home to Nevada at the end of the year. "The heavy lifting is done. It is now in the very capable hands of GPO's leadership and employees to carry forward the dozens of new GPO initiatives from authentication and preservation of electronic information, to the production of new U.S. electronic passports," James said.