DorobekInsider: NASA names Linda Cureton as the new NASA CIO

NASA has announced internally that NASA Goddard Space Flight Center CIO Linda Cureton will be the new NASA CIO.

NASA has taken its time conducting an extensive search to replace former NASA CIO Jonathan Pettus. Pettus decided to step down last year. In January, Bobby German was named the acting CIO. NASA actually conducted two searches — one last year that eventually lapsed and one starting in January. NASA officials determined that it was best if the new administration had a role in the selection process.

Cureton has been a rising star in the CIO community. She is well respected — and well liked at NASA Goddard. And she has become one of the most thoughtful leaders in the government CIO community. She is also an active user of collaborative tools — she has one of the better government IT blogs — and she actually uses Twitter. And she spurred NASA Goddard to create Spacebook, which is something like Facebook but for NASA Goddard. Hear Cureton talk about Spacebook with Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller here.

She also teaches piano lessons — I don’t know how she has the time.

Her current bio:

Ms. Linda Y. Cureton is the Director of the Information Technology and Communications Directorate and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). As the CIO, Ms. Cureton is responsible for ensuring that GSFC’s information assets are acquired and managed consistent with Agency and Federal Government policies. She is responsible for ensuring that the Center’s Information Technology strategy aligns with NASA’s vision, mission, and strategic goals. The Information Technology and Communications Directorate: provides the information infrastructure and tools that effectively and securely support management, science, research, and technology programs; develops, implements, and operates specialized IT systems to support mission planning and operation; and provides systems that disseminate information to the public and that preserve NASA’s information assets.

Prior to her arrival at GSFC, Ms. Cureton was the Deputy Assistant Director for the Office of Science and Technology and the Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). The Office of Science and Technology is responsible for providing leadership in the innovative and efficient application of science and technology used to collect, clarify, and communicate information needed to reduce violent crime, collect revenue and protect the public. As the ATF Deputy CIO, she was responsible for ensuring that the use of Information Technology for the Bureau’s mission and business requirements fulfill customer and stakeholder needs.

Previously, Ms. Cureton served as Associate CIO, Acting Deputy CIO, and Acting CIO of the Department of Energy. There, she had a broad range of responsibilities including: strategic planning, network and information security, information architecture, capital planning and IT investment, network and telecommunications services, operational support of voice, data, video, LAN/WAN, and computer systems, and application development and maintenance for corporate systems.

Ms. Cureton also served the Department of Justice in the Justice Management Division and was responsible for managing the Department of Justice Data Centers, which supported mission critical computing requirements for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Prisons, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

As a strong advocate for the practical application of technology, she serves as a member of organizations such as the Government Information Technology Investment Council, the Information Technology Review Board, and Women in Technology.

Ms. Cureton earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Howard University in 1980 graduating magna cum laude with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Latin. She also received a Master of Science Degree in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 1994, and a Post-Master’s Advanced Certificate in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 1996.

She performed extensive research in numerical analysis and has been published in the “Journal of Sound and Vibration.”

She currently resides in Maryland with her husband and mother.

Cureton’s on Twitter, Facebookand LinkedIn

She was on a Women in Technology panel that I moderated earlier this year. Read the “liner notes” here.