Secretary Abraham Names Rosita Parkes Chief Information Officer

10/10/2003

From: Hope Williams of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-5806

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 -- Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham recently named Rosita O. Parkes as Chief Information Officer for the Department of Energy (DOE). Ms. Parkes will be responsible for the operation of information technology programs and fulfilling key initiatives of the president's Management Agenda.

Rosita O. Parkes was appointed the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) Chief Information Officer in September 2002. In this position she managed and operated FEMA's information technology and telecommunications systems, and provided information technology and telecommunications services to FEMA and other federal, state and local agencies. Previously she served as Deputy Chief Information Officer and Deputy Assistant Director for FEMA's Information Technology Services Directorate.

"Ms. Parkes brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Department of Energy's information technology program," Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said. "She has a long distinguished career in the federal technology sector and will be a great asset to the department. We are fortunate to have a person with Ms. Parkes' skills to continue the progress we have made in information technology management, performance and productivity at DOE."

Prior to joining FEMA, Ms. Parkes was the Chief Information Officer for the Defense Commissary Agency, responsible for information technology plans, policy, oversight and budget. She was also responsible for design, development, acquisition and implementation of all communication and computer systems throughout the agency.

Ms. Parkes entered civil service as a computer intern in 1970 and has worked in both automation and operations research areas. Her past assignments include: computer programming at the Information Center, Fort Bliss, Texas; design, development, maintenance and deployment of standard Army base-level support systems for the Computer Systems Command, Fort Eustis, Va.; and analysis of training on the Army Skill Qualification Test for the Training Support Center at Fort Eustis.

In addition, she served as chief of the Systems Support Branch in the Directorate of Information Systems for the Army Troop Support Agency. In that agency, she became chief of the Commissary Systems Division, responsible for the agency's worldwide commissary systems.

She received the Commander's Award for Superior Civilian Service in 1990 and 1996 and the Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2001.

A native of Santa Fe, N.M., she holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and a master's degree from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Ms. Parkes replaces Karen Evans, who was appointed by President Bush as the Administrator of E-Government and Information Technology, Office of Management and Budget.