Richard Spires is the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after being appointed to the position on July 28, 2009. His responsibilities include managing and directing information management support processes by combining the functions of information technology and telecommunications to provide coordinated support strategies for meeting DHS-mission related information needs.
Spires’ experience made him a logical choice for the job. He possesses extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, dealing with information technology and senior-management operations issues. He enjoyed a successful run with the Internal Revenue Service, where he oversaw IT responsibilities as Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support, Chief Information Officer and Associate Chief Information Officer for Business Systems Modernization, respectively.
Prior to his work there, Spires served as the President, Chief Operating Officer, and a Director of Mantas, Inc., a software product vendor. He also spent more than 16 years at SRA International, a system integration company specializing in distributed information systems. He worked his way up from systems and software engineer to Senior Vice President of SRA’s commercial sector.
Spires holds an M.S. in electrical engineering from The George Washington University, a B.S. in electrical engineering and a B.A. in mathematical sciences from the University of Cincinnati.