DiPentima receives IAC's Mendenhall award

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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Renato "Renny" DiPentima, the chief executive officer of SRA International, on Monday received the American Council for Technology and the Industry Advisory Council's Janice K. Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award.

The award was given out during the annual Executive Leadership Conference here.

The annual Mendenhall award recipient is an executive in either the public or private sector who is representative of ACT/IAC's mission of leading the IT community to improve government, said Robert Suda, associate chief information officer for integration and operations for the Agriculture Department.

ACT/IAC solicits nominations from the government IT community at large. It then revises the list and vets potential candidates against the stated criteria by the Awards Committee before choosing a recipient, Suda said.

The annual award is given by ACT and IAC officials in memory of Mendenhall, who worked to strengthen relationships between government and industry officials in her role in the industry/government organization. Mendenhall, who died in 2001, was a veteran of the General Services Administration, most recently serving as the assistant regional administrator for the Federal Technology Service in Atlanta.

DiPentima, who retired from a senior IT post at the Social Security Administration before moving to SRA, thanked his colleagues at both SSA and SRA. "I'm a very lucky person," he said.

Also Monday evening, IAC chairman Bill Piatt, vice president Global Public Sector Marketing at CGI, presented this year’s Chairman’s Awards. Gary Wetterhall, assistant program executive officer of the Department of the Army, received the government award and Bruce McConnell, president of McConnell International, received it for industry.

Also recognized during the ceremony: