Nuclear Regulatory Commission CIO heads to Agriculture agency
The Department of Agriculture agency that administers loan, conservation and other assistance programs for farmers is getting a new chief information officer.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission CIO Darren Ash announced in an email obtained Wednesday by FedScoop that he would be moving to the Farm Service Agency next month. He will replace Lawrence Gross Jr., who departed last year to join the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
“I will be moving to another Federal agency with an important mission, specifically one that has a direct impact on our citizens,” Ash wrote. “I’m very excited about the new challenges ahead for me in my new role.”
Ash has worked at the NRC for nine years, and also served as the agency’s chief Freedom of Information Act officer, senior agency official for records management, and senior accountable official for open government, according to his NRC bio. Before joining NRC, he worked at the Department of Transportation as associate chief information officer for IT investment management. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined the government in 1991 as a program analyst for the IRS.
Recently, Ash worked with the nonprofit trade group ACT-IAC to develop recommendations meant to help agencies implement the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, a relatively new law that centralizes IT spending under each department’s CIO.
Ash earned a bachelor’s degree from American University, a master’s in public administration from Syracuse University and a master’s in information systems technology from George Washington University.
An NRC spokesman said that Frederick D. Brown will serve as acting CIO until the agency finds a permanent replacement. Brown is currently assistant for operations in NRC’s Office of the Executive Director for Operations and has worked at the agency since 1994. Before that, he spent 12 years working as a engineer, supervisor and manager at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and received a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering and nautical science from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
Ash’s first day at USDA will be March 6, he wrote in the email.
His new job was first reported by FCW.
WATCH Darren Ash speak with FedScoop in 2012 about initiatives he was working on.
Contact the reporter on this story via email Whitney.Wyckoff@fedscoop.com; or follow her on Twitter @whitneywyckoff. Sign up for all the Federal IT news you need in your inbox every morning at 6:00 a.m. here: fdscp.com/sign-me-on
