Government Accountability
The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board

The membership of this Government Board is a small snapshot of the reason why most of Washington cannot do accounting

COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

The following information is from the government website about the background of the members of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. Most of the board members are either Inspectors General or Acting Inspectors General. The information that shocks me is that there is only one person in the group that has any formal training in accountancy ... and that is only from the business administration perspective.

The background of this group explains what so much of what they do is about the arguments and rarely a simple presentation of the financial facts. I am having a certain amount of difficulty in holding back my deep disgust at this situation. I have known for a very long time that there has been something fundamentally wrong with the financial management and financial control of government. This team which has an important accounting and accountability role has virtually zero academic training or experience in the field of accounting. Rather all of this team are trained in law or political science and have deep experience in hog government works, but not how accountability is done in the best organizations in the world in the private sector or through connection with the professional accountancy community.

http://www.recovery.gov/About/board/Pages/BoardMembers.aspx

COMMITTEES

Recovery.gov
J. Russell George - Chair
Daniel Levinson
Todd J. Zinser
Gordon Heddell
Staff: Mike Wood

Accountability
Kathleen Tighe - Chair
Gregory H. Friedman
Cynthia A. Schnedar
Charles Edwards
Staff: A.J. Benavidez

Recovery Funds Working Group
Mary L. Kendall - Chair
Calvin L. Scovel III
Phyllis K. Fong
Eric M. Thorson
Staff: Alan Boehm

http://www.recovery.gov/About/board/Pages/chairman.aspx

EARL E. DEVANEY
Chairman Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board

Earl E. Devaney, Chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, is a veteran public official dedicated to accountability and transparency in government.

On February 23, 2009, six days after signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, President Obama named Devaney to head the Recovery Board, which is charged with overseeing spending under the $787 billion program. In announcing Devaney’s appointment, the President said: “Earl has doggedly pursued waste, fraud and mismanagement. He has the reputation of being one of the best [Inspectors General] that we have in this town…. I can’t think of a more tenacious and efficient guardian of the hard-earned tax dollars the American people have entrusted us to wisely invest.”

President Bill Clinton appointed Devaney as the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior in 1999. During his tenure at the Office of Inspector General (OIG), he oversaw the public corruption investigations that led to the convictions of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Interior Deputy Secretary Steven Griles. He also presided over the oil and gas investigations that engulfed the Minerals Management Service from 2007 to 2009.

Devaney’s commitment to leadership – he graduated from Georgetown University’s prestigious Leadership Coaching Program – is reflected in the OIG’s #1 ranking among agency subcomponents in both Strategic Management and Work/Life Balance in the highly regarded “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” 2009 survey.

Before becoming the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior, Devaney spent eight years as the Director of the Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training for the Environmental Protection Agency. In that job, he supervised all of EPA’s criminal investigators, the agency’s forensics laboratory, and its enforcement training institute. In 1998, he received the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award for outstanding government service.

Devaney began his federal law enforcement career with the Secret Service in 1970, following his graduation from Franklin and Marshall College. At the time of his retirement from the Secret Service in 1991, Devaney was Special Agent-in-Charge of the Fraud Division and was recognized as an international expert in white collar crime.

http://www.oig.dot.gov/inspector-general

Calvin L. Scovel III Inspector General - U.S. Department of Transportation

Calvin L. Scovel III is the sixth Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). He was nominated by President George W. Bush on July 13, 2006 and, after confirmation by the Senate, was sworn in on October 27, 2006.

OIG was established by law in 1978 to provide the Secretary and Congress with independent and objective reviews of the efficiency and effectiveness of DOT operations and programs and to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG's 400-plus staff works to support DOT's priorities of transportation safety and effective program delivery and performance. Recent audit reports and congressional testimony have addressed DOT's implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; FAA's safety oversight and efforts to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System; air carriers' outsourcing of aircraft maintenance; rail, pipeline, and commercial vehicle safety; bridge safety and inspections; NAFTA cross-border trucking; Amtrak's operations and budgetary needs; and safety and financing issues in multi-billion dollar highway and transit programs like Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel and the Lower Manhattan recovery project.

Mr. Scovel joined DOT after 29 years of active service in the U.S. Marine Corps, from which he retired as a Brigadier General. His last military assignment was as a senior judge on the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. He previously served as Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Navy for Military Justice, the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Navy and the Judge Advocate General on all criminal justice policy matters. He also commanded a military police battalion that provided security and law enforcement for Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia.

Mr. Scovel served as senior legal advisor for the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which included all Marine amphibious forces in Operation Desert Storm and later in a NATO exercise above the Arctic Circle in Norway. He had previously served as legal advisor for a Marine amphibious unit deployed to the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, where it conducted exercises in Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, Kenya, and Australia.

A Marine judge advocate, Mr. Scovel served as prosecutor, defense counsel, or judge in 250 courts-martial that included charges of murder, rape, child sexual assault, and drug trafficking.

As an adjunct faculty member for the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, Mr. Scovel led instruction teams in the rule of law and civilian control of the military for senior civilian and military officials in Honduras, Mauritius, Albania, and Serbia. He was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. His military awards include the Legion of Merit (four awards) and Combat Action Ribbon.

Mr. Scovel is a recipient of the Secretary's Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement for his leadership of OIG in supporting DOT's recovery effort after the collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis in 2007.

Mr. Scovel received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his juris doctor degree from Duke University School of Law. He also received a master's degree from the Naval War College.

Mr. Scovel is married and has two sons. Carey is a graduate of Elon University and serves as a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thomas is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

http://www.ignet.gov/pande/cigiechair.html

CIGIE Chair Phyllis K. Fong Inspector General = U.S. Department of Agriculture

Phyllis K. Fong was sworn in as Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on December 2, 2002. USDA is one of the largest and most diverse departments in the Federal Government. Its mission includes the management of traditional farm programs, private lands conservation, domestic food assistance, agriculture research and education, agricultural marketing, international trade, meat and poultry inspection, forestry, and rural development programs.

As Inspector General, Ms. Fong is the senior official responsible for audits, evaluations, investigations, and law enforcement efforts, relating to USDA's programs and operations. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) provides leadership in promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in USDA programs and addressing fraud, waste, and abuse.

Ms. Fong was recently elected as the first Chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), which was established by the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, Public Law 110-409, to consolidate the former President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) and Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency. CIGIE's members include 67 Federal Inspectors General, and its mission is to promote economy and effectiveness in Federal programs through coordinated Governmentwide activities. Previously, Ms. Fong served as Chair of the PCIE Legislation Committee and was a member of the PCIE Audit Committee. She also served as PCIE representative to the Comptroller General's Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards.

Prior to her appointment at USDA, Ms. Fong served as the Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from April 1999 until December 2002. A career member of the Senior Executive Service, she had also held several positions at SBA OIG, including Assistant Inspector General for Management and Legal Counsel (1994-1999) and Assistant Inspector General for Management and Policy (1988-1994). She also served as Assistant General Counsel for the Legal Services Corporation (1981-1983) and as an attorney with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1978-1981).

Ms. Fong was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. degree in Asian studies and earned her J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law. Ms. Fong is a member of the Tennessee and District of Columbia bars. She and her husband, Paul Tellier, have two children.

http://www.oig.doc.gov/Pages/Inspector-General-Todd-J.-Zinser.aspx

Todd J. Zinser Inspector General - Department of Commerce

Todd J. Zinser was sworn in as the fifth Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Commerce on December 26, 2007. As Inspector General, Mr. Zinser leads a team of auditors, evaluators, investigators, attorneys, and support staff responsible for improving the Department's vast array of business, scientific, economic, and environmental programs and operations.

For FY 2012, Mr. Zinser has identified five top management challenges facing the Department: 1) effectively promote exports, stimulate economic growth, and create jobs; 2) reduce costs and improve operations to optimize resources for a decade of constrained budgets; 3) strengthen Department-wide information security to protect critical information systems and data; 4) manage acquisition and contract operations more effectively to obtain quality goods and services in a manner most beneficial to taxpayers; and 5) manage the development and acquisition of NOAA’s environmental satellite systems to avoid launch delays and coverage gaps.

Mr. Zinser's appointment as Inspector General follows 24 years as a career civil servant, beginning as an investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor in 1983. He joined the Department of Transportation in 1991, first serving as special agent in charge of OIG's New York regional office of investigations. Mr. Zinser held several other leadership positions until being named deputy inspector general in 2001, a role he held until his appointment as the Commerce Inspector General.

Mr. Zinser has received numerous awards for leadership and superior performance throughout his career. He received the Secretary of Transportation's 9-11 Medal and two Gold Medals for his work on Hurricane Katrina (2006) and the collapse of the I-35 Minnesota Bridge (2007). Also in 2007, he was awarded the Transportation IG's Bronze Medal for superior achievement as Deputy Inspector General.

Mr. Zinser earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Northern Kentucky University and a master's degree in political science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He has also completed the Senior Managers in Government program at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

http://www.dodig.mil/BIOs/heddell_bio.html

Hon. Gordon S. Heddell Inspector General - Department of Defense

Gordon S. Heddell was sworn in as the seventh Inspector General for the Department of Defense on July 14, 2009, one year after being appointed as acting Inspector General.

Mr. Heddell has over ten years experience as a Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed Inspector General, and has led Inspector General offices of two cabinet level departments within the Executive Branch. Mr. Heddell has also served as one of the top executives of the United States Secret Service rising to the level of Assistant Director.

As Inspector General at the Department of Defense, Mr. Heddell is responsible for directing audits, investigations, and inspections, and for developing audit and investigative policy in the largest Federal office of Inspector General, with a workforce of over 1,600 and an annual budget exceeding $300 million. In this capacity, Mr. Heddell provides oversight of all the programs and operations of the Department of Defense and military services, including ongoing military operations in Southwest Asia.

In 2010, Mr. Heddell directed and led the Department of Defense oversight efforts that achieved $6.4 billion in monetary benefits and investigative recoveries, and conducted criminal investigations resulting in 281 indictments and 245 convictions.

As Inspector General, Mr. Heddell serves on the executive committee of the Federal Council of Inspectors General for Integrity and Efficiency, and is chair of the Information Technology Committee and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Inquiry. Mr. Heddell is also the chair of the Defense Council on Integrity and Efficiency and serves as the Chair of the Interagency Coordination Group of Inspectors General for Guam Realignment.

From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Heddell served as Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor, where he led efforts to combat labor racketeering and organized crime in the workplace; fraud against the Foreign Labor Certification Program; and weaknesses in the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Mr. Heddell served as a special agent in the United States Secret Service for 28 years. In this capacity, Mr. Heddell held a number of key executive positions to include:

Assistant Director (Inspections), serving as a key advisor to the director, providing advice and counsel on all facets of Secret Service leadership and operations; and

Special Agent in Charge of the Vice Presidential Protective Division, leading and managing the physical protection of the Vice President of the United States. Mr. Heddell began his Government service as an Army chief warrant officer, and helicopter pilot, serving in both Korea and Taiwan during the Vietnam-era conflict.

Mr. Heddell is a recipient of the prestigious Meritorious Presidential Rank Award for outstanding government service. He was also selected by the University of Illinois as its recipient of the 2009 alumni achievement award. One of Mr. Heddell's proudest achievements is the creation of a major partnership between the Secret Service and two inner city Washington D.C. public schools.

Mr. Heddell received his bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri, his master's degree from the University of Illinois (formerly Sangamon State University), and was a Woodrow Wilson public service fellow from 1994-2000. Mr. Heddell graduated at the top of his Treasury Federal Law Enforcement Academy class.

http://energy.gov/ig/contributors/gregory-h-friedman

The Honorable Gregory H. Friedman
Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Energy

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Vice Chair of the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency
Member of the Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards

Gregory H. Friedman was nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Energy in 1998. Mr. Friedman started his Federal career in 1968 and has been with the Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General, since 1982. As Inspector General, he is responsible for a nationwide, independent program of audits, inspections, and law enforcement efforts related to the Department of Energy’s programs and operations, including its over $130 billion in assets and 107,000 Federal and contractor personnel. In addition to his responsibilities as Inspector General, Mr. Friedman now serves as a member of the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board.

Mr. Friedman received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Temple University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. In 1979-1980, Mr. Friedman was selected as a Princeton Fellow in Public Affairs and spent a year in residence at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Studies.

In 2002, Mr. Friedman was named by the Comptroller General of the United States to serve as a member of the Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Friedman served as Vice Chair of the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, then the parent organization of the 11,000 member Federal Inspector General community. In addition, he led the development of the “Federal Audit Manual,” for the first time providing universal guidelines for conducting Federal financial audits.

Mr. Friedman has been a guest lecturer on topics such as audit policy and procedures, government integrity and oversight, and program evaluation. In addition, Mr. Friedman is a member of several professional organizations, and has served in leadership positions in the Association of Government Accountants and the Institute of Internal Auditors. Mr. Friedman has also been active in a number of community and philanthropic organizations. During his Federal career, Mr. Friedman has received numerous awards, including the Department of Energy’s Meritorious Service Award, the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, and the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executive.

http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/about_ig.shtml

Meet the IG: J. Russell George

Following his nomination by President George W. Bush, the United States Senate confirmed J. Russell George in November 2004, as the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Prior to assuming this role, Mr. George served as the Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service, having been nominated to that position by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2002.

A native of New York City, where he attended public schools, including Brooklyn Technical High School, Mr. George received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in Washington, DC, and his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Harvard University's School of Law in Cambridge, MA. After receiving his law degree, he returned to New York and served as a prosecutor in the Queens County District Attorney's Office.

Following his work as a prosecutor, Mr. George joined the Counsel's Office in the White House Office of Management and Budget where he was Assistant General Counsel. In that capacity, he provided legal guidance on issues concerning presidential and executive branch authority. He was next invited to join the White House Staff as the Associate Director for Policy in the Office of National Service. It was there that he implemented the legislation establishing the Commission for National and Community Service, the precursor to the Corporation for National and Community Service. He then returned to New York and practiced law at Kramer, Levin, Naftalis, Nessen, Kamin & Frankel.

In 1995, Mr. George returned to Washington and joined the staff of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight and served as the Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Government Management, Information and Technology subcommittee (later renamed the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations), chaired by Representative Stephen Horn. There he directed a staff that conducted over 200 hearings on legislative and oversight issues pertaining to Federal Government management practices, including procurement policies, the disposition of government-controlled information, the performance of chief financial officers and inspectors general, and the Government's use of technology. He continued in that position until his appointment by President Bush in 2002.

http://oig.hhs.gov/about-oig/about-inspector-general/index.asp

Daniel R. Levinson Inspector General - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Daniel R. Levinson has headed the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since 2004. As IG, Mr. Levinson is the senior official responsible for audits, evaluations, investigations, compliance initiatives, and law enforcement efforts to combat fraud and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid, and over 300 other public health and human services programs administered by HHS. He leads an independent and objective nationwide organization of over 1700 professional staff members dedicated to promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in all HHS programs.

In addition to his IG responsibilities, Mr. Levinson has been designated by President Obama to serve on the Government Accountability and Transparency Board. By statute, Mr. Levinson also is a member of the 2009 Recovery Act's Accountability and Transparency Board, of which he is Vice Chairman of its Recovery.gov Committee. In support of the Federal IG community, Mr. Levinson sits on the Executive Council of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, where he co-chairs its Committee on Inspection and Evaluation. On behalf of 73 Federal IGs, he also serves as a liaison member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.

A lawyer by training, Mr. Levinson spent more than a decade in private practice, specializing in employment law and policy and earning the Martindale-Hubbell AV preeminent peer review rating. Most of his career, however, has been devoted to public service. He has been Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and General Counsel of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. He has served in State government as a judicial law clerk, and in the U.S. Congress as a chief of staff.

In 1986, Mr. Levinson was appointed by President Reagan to be Chairman of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, a bipartisan quasi-judicial agency that adjudicates Federal civilian personnel appeals. He was first appointed by President George W. Bush to be Inspector General of the U.S. General Services Administration in 2001. There he oversaw the integrity of the Federal civilian procurement process.

Mr. Levinson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences of the University of Southern California. He received his J.D. degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as Notes and Comments editor of The American Criminal Law Review. He also holds an LL.M. degree in Labor Law from The George Washington University Law School. His writings have appeared in Washington, DC, area law school law reviews and he has been a law instructor at The American University Law School and the School of Architecture and Engineering of The Catholic University of America. He is admitted to the Bar in California, New York, and the District of Columbia, and is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Mr. Levinson is married to Luna Lambert Levinson, and they are the parents of two adult daughters.

Updated August 2011

http://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/ig/Pages/thorson-e.aspx

Eric Thorson
Inspector General - Department of the Treasury

Eric Thorson was nominated to be Inspector General of the Department of the Treasury by President George W. Bush on November 15, 2007 and confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2008. He was sworn into office on August 12, 2008. As Inspector General, Thorson oversees independent oversight of Treasury keeping the Secretary and Congress informed through independent audits, investigations and reviews to help the Department accomplish its mission; improve its programs and operations; promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness; and prevent and detect fraud and abuse.

Before joining the Treasury, Thorson worked at the Small Business Administration where he served as Inspector General. Prior to this, he served the Office of Personnel Management as Senior Advisor to the Director for Investigative Operations and Agency Planning.

Earlier in his career, he served as Special Assistant to the Senate Republican Leader, Chief Investigator for the Senate Finance Committee and Chief Investigator for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

He has also served in the Department of the Air Force as Acting Assistant Secretary and twice as Deputy Assistant Secretary.

Thorson is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has served as an Air Force pilot and is a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.

http://www2.ed.gov/news/staff/bios/tighe.html

Kathleen S. Tighe,
Inspector General - Department of Education

On March 17, 2010, Ms. Tighe was sworn in as the Inspector General for the Department of Education. Prior to this, she was the Deputy Inspector General, United States Department of Agriculture. From 1995 to 2005, she served as Counsel to the Inspector General, General Services Administration and, before that, as an Assistant Counsel for the Office of Inspector General. From 1988 until 1991, she was a Trial Attorney with the Fraud Section of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice doing litigation under the civil False Claims Act involving Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, the General Services Administration, and other agencies. Prior to her Government service, Ms. Tighe was in private practice with the law firm Lewis, Mitchell & Moore.

Ms. Tighe has lectured frequently to both Government and industry groups. She has spoken at the Defense Procurement Fraud and Affirmative Civil Litigation conferences of the Department of Justice, at the Association of Directors of Investigation Conferences, before the Federal Law Enforcement Interagency Task Force, the Inspectors General Auditor Training Institute, the Federal Audit Executive Council, the Institute of Internal Auditors, American Bar Association groups, the Coalition for Government Procurement, and various other vendor organizations. Ms. Tighe is a member of the Public Contract Section of the American Bar Association and is a former Chair of the Council of Counsels to the Inspector General.

Ms. Tighe earned her law degree, with honors, from George Washington University (JD'83). She has a Master's degree in International Relations from American University (MA'79). She graduated, with distinction, from Purdue University (BA'76), where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

http://www.doioig.gov/about-oig/acting-inspector-general

Mary L. Kendall
Acting Inspector General - Department of the Interior

Mary Kendall spent much of her career as an attorney for Federal law enforcement programs and as a State and Federal prosecutor. She joined the Federal workforce in 1986 as an attorney for the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of General Counsel. In 1990, she transferred to its Office of Criminal Enforcement, where she served for 9 years. Ms. Kendall became Deputy Inspector General at the Department of the Interior in the fall of 1999. She played an instrumental role in transforming the Office of Inspector General into an innovative organization dedicated to detecting Departmental fraud, waste, and mismanagement. As Acting Inspector General, she has continued improving the way in which the OIG conducts business.

http://www.justice.gov/oig/meet-ig.htm

Cynthia A. Schnedar
Acting Inspector General - U. S. Department of Justice

Cynthia A. Schnedar assumed the position of Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice on January 29, 2011. She joined the Office of the Inspector General in October 2005 and served as Counselor to the Inspector General until July 2010, when she was appointed as Deputy Inspector General.

Ms. Schnedar began her career with the Department of Justice in 1989 as an Honors Program attorney assigned to the Civil Division, where she represented the United States in complex civil fraud litigation under the False Claims Act. In 1994, she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., where she was the lead attorney in more than 30 trials as a criminal prosecutor and a civil attorney. She also handled numerous grand jury investigations and argued cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. During her last two years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she served as the Deputy Chief of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section.

Ms. Schnedar received her Juris Doctor with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1988, and following law school, clerked for the Honorable James R. Browning on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She received her Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in journalism and political science from the University of New Mexico in 1983. She worked as an on-air reporter for television stations in New Mexico and Texas from 1983 to 1985.

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/biography_0112.shtm

Charles K. Edwards Acting Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General:

Charles K. Edwards assumed the position of Acting Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security on February 27, 2011. Prior to the Acting Inspector General position, Mr. Edwards served as Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Edwards has over 20 years of experience in the federal government and has held leadership positions at several federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, the United States Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, and the United States Postal Service.

Furthermore, Mr. Edwards has received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to the federal and law enforcement community, including awards for excellence and distinguished achievement from individual Offices of Inspector General as well as from the Inspector General community as a whole.

Mr. Edwards is a graduate of Loyola College in Maryland, with a double Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. He also holds a Federal Chief Information Officer Certificate and Master’s Certificate in IT Project Management from Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, Mr. Edwards is certified as a Project Management Professional.