Headquarters photo
Caltrans Medal of Valor winners, beginning second from left, are Anthony Coscia, Tobin Hook and Steve Quinliven. At left is Chief Deputy Director Cory Binns and at right is CalSTA Secretary Toks Omishakin.
California on June 15 recognized three Caltrans employees with the Governor’s State Employee Medal of Valor, the highest honor bestowed to public servants who perform extraordinary acts of heroism above and beyond the normal call of duty and at great risk to their own lives.
"The heroism recognized today from these Caltrans employees reflects the extraordinary courage, selflessness and commitment to keep Californians safe,” said California Transportation Agency (CalSTA) Secretary Toks Omishakin. “The heroism recognized today from these Caltrans employees reflects the extraordinary courage, selflessness and commitment to keep Californians safe.”
"These workers bravely risked their personal safety to provide life-saving service to their communities and the people of California,” said Caltrans Director Dina El-Tawansy. “Today, the entire Caltrans family joins Governor Newsom in honoring their selfless acts and thank them for their willingness to help others.”
Receiving the Gold Medal of Valor: Tobin Hook, District 5 landscape associate, and Anthony Coscia, District 5 transportation engineer, for courageously entering the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 29, 2024, near the town of Davenport in Santa Cruz County and helping a drowning woman to shore, starting CPR and other life-saving measures until emergency personnel arrived.
Receiving the Silver Medal of Valor: Steve Quinliven, District 1 equipment operator, for heroic service rendered on May 12, 2025, by providing first aid and attending to a distressed female motorist, whose car was dangling precariously on an embankment beneath State Route 162 in Mendocino County, until emergency personnel arrived.
The annual State Employee Medal of Valor award was first presented by Governor Edmund G. Brown Sr. in 1959.
In the 67 years these medals have been awarded, more than 800 state employees – including 133 from Caltrans – have earned medals of valor for their courage and selflessness in the face of danger.