Former State Homeland Security Director Mark James has gotten a special award from the federal government for stopping a man who stabbed a college dean last fall in Kansas City. James is now the chancellor of the Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City. When a student at Penn Valley Community College stabbed the college dean in neck during a college ceremony, James was the first person to tackle the man with the knife and hold him down. The dean later recovered.
The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has given James its citizenship award during ceremonies in Washington.