Department of Defense Chief Information Officer John Sherman speaks at the Defense Intelligence Agency’s DoDIIS Worldwide Conference, Dec. 13, 2022. Sherman will be leaving his position at DOD at the end of June. David Richards/Defense Intelligence Agency
DOD CIO resigns to take university post
John Sherman will become dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M.
The Defense Department's chief information officer is resigning from government service to lead the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M.
The move was announced June 6. John Sherman will exit government service at the end of this month.
Sherman was confirmed by the Senate to serve as CIO in December 2021, and he'd been serving in the role on an acting basis before that. His leadership of tech at DOD spanned the Trump and Biden administrations.
At DOD, Sherman championed zero-trust cybersecurity policies and was an advocate for research and development and fielding of artificial intelligence capabilities. He led the effort to pivot to virtual remote work for DOD staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he was a key player in the cancellation of the embattled Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, as well as the development of its replacement, the $9 billion Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability vehicle.
"Mr. Sherman has been a steadfast advisor and an innovative leader who has helped the department adopt and utilize modern information technology to keep our country safe," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “His technical expertise has proven invaluable in tackling a variety of digital challenges. His focus on mission readiness has ensured that each of the services is equipped with both the capabilities and the digital workforce necessary for modern warfighting."
Before joining DOD, Sherman served as CIO for the intelligence community in the Office of the Director for National Intelligence, deputy director for the CIA's Open Source Enterprise and as a deputy national intelligence officer on the National Intelligence Council.
Sherman and his wife Liz are both graduates of Texas A&M.
“I’m tremendously honored and humbled to be selected as the next dean of the Bush School," Sherman said in a statement. "The spirit of service and focus on preparing students for the future they instilled in the school will be our guiding light as we look to the challenges the next generation of leaders will face. Liz and I are excited to get back home to College Station and beginning this next chapter in our lives."