The Department of Energy has named Dawn Zimmer as principal deputy chief information officer.
Zimmer, who announced the appointment in a LinkedIn post on Friday, has served as the executive director for information technology experience and engagement at Virginia Tech since November 2019.
Zimmer’s Public and Education Sector Experience
Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she held various roles at the Federal Aviation Administration. She was the director of business partnership services responsible for ensuring secure and reliable access to air traffic support systems, establishing the FAA Customer Experience Division and improving user onboarding processes. Zimmer also served as the agency’s strategy manager for core services and customer engagement, chief of staff of the Office of Finance and Management and management operations manager.
She also spent time as a deputy director at the Department of Justice’s Office of the CIO, director of customer support and training at Ulticom, and product manager at GE Capital.
The new DOE deputy CIO replaced Brian Epley, who left the agency earlier in 2024 to assume the CIO role at the Department of Commerce, FedScoop reported. Current DOE CIO Ann Dunkin is also expected to leave the agency when the Biden administration ends. At that time, Zimmer would serve as acting CIO until DOE appoints a permanent replacement.