Another IT Manager To Leave DoEAnother IT Manager To Leave DoE

The IT leadership shakeup continues at the Department of Energy. Deputy CIO Carl Staton last week signaled his intention to retire, only a week after CIO Tom Pyke announced his pending retirement and another top IT exec was transferred to another position.

In an e-mail to IT staff at the Department of Energy last Wednesday, Staton announced that he would be retiring sometime around April. "I've had an exciting federal career by any measure," he wrote.

Staton's departure raises questions about who will now replace Pyke when he steps down at the end of February. According to a source at the Department of Energy, one name that has been tossed around is Rosio Alvarez, the current CIO of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who was hired by Energy secretary Steven Chu to that position.

Two weeks ago, 46-year government veteran and CIO Pyke announced in an e-mail that the time had come for him to retire. At the same time, the agency announced that associate CIO for cybersecurity Bill Hunteman had been reassigned to head up cybersecurity efforts related to the smart grid.

Although Staton writes in his e-mail that the other leadership changes gave him "pause" in his decision, he concluded that his retirement remained best for him. "I know this may seem like 'bad timing' on my part, but waiting to announce this decision would not have been fair to you nor to the DOE and the Secretary," he wrote.

Staton has been at the Department of Energy since October 2006, and previously held various IT positions at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Weather Service, including CIO.