The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has tapped Jennifer Wendel to serve as acting chief information officer (CIO), according to the agency’s website.
Wendell is taking the tech helm at the agency from Karl Mathias, who left HHS earlier this month to serve as a program manager for NASA, according to his LinkedIn page.
As acting CIO at HHS, Wendel will be tasked with providing leadership and oversight of IT systems and cybersecurity activities as the head of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), and supporting expansion of the agency’s $7 billion IT portfolio.
Wendel served as Deputy CIO at HHS since January 2023. Before that, she held a variety of tech leadership roles over 18 years with the FBI, including section chief of enterprise IT governance and acting deputy CIO.
She holds a master’s degree in forensics science from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Le Moyne College.
