Jonathan Q. Pettus is NASA's Chief Information Officer (CIO). As the CIO, he leads the NASA IT organization in the delivery of mission enabling, integrated, secure, and efficient information technology (IT) capabilities and services. He ensures that the Agency's information resource management (IRM) strategy is in alignment with NASA’s vision, mission and strategic goals. Accordingly, Pettus ensures the development of integrated IRM strategies, including standards, policies, NASA Enterprise Architecture, IT security, management and operations. He has the responsibility, authority, and accountability for ensuring that NASA's information assets are selected, controlled, and evaluated consistent with federal policies, procedures, and legislation. Pettus is the NASA Champion for implementing the President's Management Agenda (PMA) for E-Government.
Pettus served as director of the Office of the Chief Information Officer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., while from 2005 to 2007. He was responsible for leading support services and security for the Marshall Center's expansive computer and communications networks. Pettus supervised a staff of 140 civil servants and more than 1,000 contractor personnel, and he managed an annual information technology budget of more than $370 million.
From 2002 to 2005, Pettus was the manager of Integrated Enterprise Management Program’s competency center. He led a team of more than 300 business and information technology professionals tasked with the integration, development and operation of NASA's enterprise-level business applications. Key duties of the office included supporting the successful deployment of NASA's enterprise financial system and providing application support services to more than 15,000 users across the agency.
In 2000, Pettus was named the integration manager of the Integrated Enterprise Management Program, a NASA program that implements business systems to improving fiscal and management accountability. He planned and directed the overall integration of all program applications, formed a central integration team to provide application and technology services for projects within the program and led deployment of the program's overall technical architecture.
Pettus joined the Marshall Center in 1991 as a computer engineer, initially providing center employees with computer and application support services. He designed critical elements of desktop computing environments used center wide, and led development of Marshall's first Internet Web site. During this period, he also led a pilot program demonstrating the value of electronic commerce at NASA and showing how companies can conduct business with NASA in a computer-based environment. The program resulted in an operational procurement system later adopted as a government-wide solution that is still in use today.
Before joining the Marshall team, Pettus worked from 1989 to 1990 as a software developer at McDonnell Douglas Corp., in Huntsville. There, he developed and maintained computer software used to define and manage space shuttle payloads.. He provided classroom training and technical support to business software users of McCormack and Dodge Software, a financial software development company in Huntsville.
Federal Computer Week Magazine named Pettus to its 2005 "Federal 100," an annual list of individuals who turn innovative technology ideas into real-life solutions. Also in 2005, he was awarded the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership, for leading his team in the successful integration of all NASA financial software.
Pettus received NASA's Medal for Exceptional Service in 2001, an award given for sustained performance and unusual initiative and creative ability in the implementation of agency-wide information technology systems. He was presented with NASA Special Service Awards in 1997 and 2001 for significant leadership contributions in the implementation of NASA's Integrated Financial Management Program.
A native of Killen, Ala., Pettus earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics history in 1987 from the University of North Alabama in Florence and a master's degree in computer science in 1995 from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
April 2008