Environmental Factor, June 2008, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Stegman Retires After Nearly 30 Years Leading Government IT Efforts

By Eddy Ball
June 2008

Stegman’s contributions as CIO have influenced the working lives of virtually everyone at NIEHS. (Photo courtesy of Eddy Ball)

Well-wishers mingled and enjoyed conversation with Stegman and NIEHS Deputy Associate Director for Management Chris Long, who was also on hand. (Photo by Eddy Ball)

Employees gathered April 29 in Nottingham Hall to offer their best wishes to retiring Chief Information Officer (CIO) Nancy Stegman. Looking forward to a break in routine, Stegman plans to relax for a while before deciding how to use her talents in the future. One option she plans to explore is working as a volunteer or free-lancer with the office of the NIEHS Associate Director for Management.

In a tribute composed last year, NIEHS Computer Specialist Rob LeVine, who worked closely with Stegman, described her as “dedicated, innovative, tenacious, resourceful and the ultimate professional.” LeVine also praised “the priceless benefits [to NIEHS and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)] of Nancy’s skills and [her] unique expertise with the information technology needs of a major biomedical research organization.”

One of Stegman’s first challenges at NIEHS came with her role as a contractor in the early 1980s supporting the data collection system of the National Toxicology Program (NTP). By 1985, Stegman had become the government’s lead manager for the system, known as the Toxicology Data Management System (TDMS). According to LeVine, Stegman “single-handedly managed the IT portion of the conversion of our TDMS from a terminal-based system to client-server based systems.”

Stegman also served on successive details in the Washington D.C. area with the Office of the Deputy Secretary at DHHS and the Office of the Deputy Director, Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 1997, Stegman was appointed as the Institute’s first CIO. She provided expertise and leadership during a period of exponential advancements in information technology and increasing concerns about computer security — accumulating an extensive institutional knowledge of the computing needs of NIEHS. She has been the recipient of many awards at the NIH and Institute level for her leadership of IT development teams and her exemplary service as CIO, including a Director’s Merit Award in December 2007.

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