Steven Cooper returns to government

Steven Cooper, the Homeland Security Department’s first chief information officer, has returned to government as CIO of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO).

Cooper has taken a leave of absence from Strativest, a consulting firm, to return to government, according to a notice posted on that firm’s Web site. Before serving as DHS’ first CIO starting in 2003, Cooper was special assistant to the president and the senior director for information integration in the White House Office of Homeland Security. He resigned from DHS in 2005. 

The ATO is responsible for moving commercial, private, and military air traffic safely and efficiently, according to the organization’s Web site. The organization employs 35,000 controllers, technicians, engineers, and support personnel, according to the site.