Name: Keith R. Kirschnick

Honored by The Carroll County Sun for: Being appointed new director of the Carroll County Department of Public Works

Age: 39

Residence; hometown: Sykesville; Baltimore

Education: South Carroll High School graduate; Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland; postgraduate work in business and finance at the Johns Hopkins University

Family: single

Background: Succeeds former Carroll Public Works Director John T. Sterling Jr.; Carroll assistant public works director since 1987; assistant director for the Leesburg, Va., Public Works Department; administrator with the Maryland Department of Transportation's aviation administration

Recipient's comments: "With the current budget situation,we're going to take advantage and do some internal things to help usoperate more efficiently, such as improving our pavement management program and updating the engineering design manual. It's kind of an old cliche, but it's valid: If we can do more with less now, we can domore with more in the future. I enjoyed working with (Sterling) and learned a lot from him. He gave me a lot of responsibility, which makes (becoming director) a little easier."