Dawn Zimmer takes over as permanent Energy CIO
The Department of Energy officially installed Dawn Zimmer as its chief information officer Friday, putting a pause — for now — on the revolving door at the agency’s IT leadership office.
According to an internal email obtained by FedScoop, Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that Zimmer had been named Energy’s permanent CIO. Her appointment comes after the installation — and subsequent departures — of two other permanent CIOs during the Trump administration. NextGov was first to report the move.
Zimmer joined Energy in 2024 as principal deputy CIO and has been serving as the acting IT chief between the appointments of permanent officials throughout this year. She was acting CIO before SpaceX engineer Ryan Riedel was named to the role and briefly took over in an acting capacity again when he left after one month. Days later, Google and Twitter alum Ross Graber was named CIO, but he left after less than two months in the role. That has left the agency without a permanent official since the end of April.
“In her role as CIO, Dawn will continue her stellar oversight of the Department’s information technology and cybersecurity initiatives, ensuring that our systems are secure, efficient, and innovative,” Wright said in his email.
Wright also said her leadership would be important as the agency looks to better coordinate across its national laboratories and that she would “play a pivotal role in aligning” IT with departmental goals more broadly. That includes “the upcoming Department-wide AI Initiative and other key priorities,” he said.
Prior to DOE, Zimmer was executive director of IT experience and engagement at Virginia Tech, and previously worked at both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Justice Department. Her last role at the FAA was directing business partnership services but she held various positions at the agency beginning in 2010, including chief of staff in the finance and management office and strategy manager for core services and customer engagement.
Spokespeople for DOE didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Billy Mitchell contributed to this report.
