Steve Cooper takes a new government job

Steve Cooper, once a familiar face at the Department of Homeland Security, is returning to the federal government as the CIO of the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Organization (ATO), Federal Computer Week reported Tuesday.

Cooper was the first CIO at DHS beginning in 2003. When he came into that office, he talked about being on a boat in the Hudson River on Sept. 11, 2001, watching the attack on the World Trade Center and the collapse of the two towers.

FCW reports that Cooper is taking a leave of absence from Strativest, a consulting firm, to return to government, according to a notice posted on that firm's website.

ATO is responsible for moving commercial, private, and military air traffic safely and efficiently. The organization employs 35,000 controllers, technicians, engineers, and support personnel.

For more on Steven Cooper:
- see this Federal Computer Week article

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