NASA CIO Pettus: Stepping down to spend time with the family — really

In Washington, we often scoff at the concept that anybody might make a decision to spend time with their family. Well I have heard from people close to NASA CIO Jonathan Pettus, who tell me that he is actually notified his staff that he is stepping down to spend time with his family.

We have been hearing that NASA CIO Jonathan Pettus was stepping down [see here… and here].

In fact, Pettus is not leaving NASA. As he told his staff this week, he intends on returning to the Marshall Space Flight Center and step down as the NASA CIO, people close to Pettus tell me. As I told you earlier, NASA is actively seeking someone to fill the position.

Pettus’s wife and two children have remained in Alabama for the past 2 years while he have served as CIO and it wasn’t possible to relocate for a number of personal reasons.

There is no specific date for the change.

Insiders tell me that Pettus is pleased that NASA has some momentum with the agency’s IT strategy with major IT initiatives underway to consolidate IT infrastructure, enable collaboration, and improve IT security.

People close to Pettus tell me that it was a difficult decision — but that it has been one of those classic career vs. family conflicts and after two years of constant travel, he simply felt that he owned it to his family to be closer to home.

I haven’t seen Pettus as often as some other CIOs — in part because of the travel, I’m sure. But whenever I have had dealings with him, he has always been frank and honest and he always impressed me. I can only imagine howdifficult a decision this would be.