Dawn Zimmer has been named as the Department of Energy’s (DOE) third chief information officer (CIO) since the start of the second Trump administration.
Zimmer had served as the DOE’s principal deputy CIO last November and was the acting CIO within the Energy Department twice this year. The DOE’s website directory now lists her as the department’s permanent CIO.
Zimmer first took over as acting CIO after the Biden administration’s Ann Dunkin left the role in January during the change of administrations, and Zimmer later stepped back into the role in March after Ryan Riedel departed after serving as CIO for a month.
The permanent CIO position then went to Ross Graber, who left DOE in July for the position of CIO at the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Before joining DOE, Zimmer worked as the executive director of Information Technology Experience and Engagement at Virginia Tech. In that role, Zimmer supported more than 30,000 users by leading the IT engagement and experience team, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In government, she spent 16 years with the Federal Aviation Administration, including director of business partnerships at the agency from 2017 to 2019, where she focused on IT issues and led a staff of 280 people.
Zimmer also served as deputy director of service delivery within the CIO office at the Justice Department from 2016 to 2017.
Zimmer received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from the Ramapo College of New Jersey.