GSA’s Wagner to retire

Marty Wagner, the General Services Administration’s long-time career employee policy lead, has decided to retire from the federal government.Wagner, who is known for his dry wit and candid observations, told his co-workers today by e-mail that his last day will be Jan. 31. He has spent 31 years with the government, including the last 16 with GSA.“[I]t is time for me to do something different,” he said in the e-mail. “I will figure out where and on what after I retire.”Wagner was named the deputy commissioner of the new Federal Acquisition Service in October after being acting commissioner since November 2005."Marty will be greatly missed” said GSA administrator Lurita Doan. “His leadership and experience were invaluable assets in helping us establish the Federal Acquisition Service.”Doan said a successor would be named at a later date."Marty has served GSA and the American public well, and I want to congratulate him for his many contributions to E-Government and the President’s Management Agenda," said Karen Evans, OMB's administrator for e-government and IT. "Marty has long recognized the importance of serving the interest of citizens through better government and management practices, and his leadership has been instrumental to the development, implementation and successes of the PMA. I want to thank Marty for his commitment and vision. He will be missed."Before moving to FAS, Wagner had been associate administrator since 1995 in the Office of Governmentwide Policy, where he oversaw policy development and implementation for the government’s internal operations, including acquisition, management and disposal of products and services; and internal management processes such as travel, the use of IT and electronic commerce.Wagner played a key role in implementing e-government as a member of the Quicksilver team, as well as working with the Office of Management and Budget on the Lines of Business Consolidation initiatives. He has been instrumental in the fielding of FirstGov and Fedbizopps.At FAS, Wagner was responsible for moving the reorganization of GSA’s Federal Technology and Federal Supply services through the early stages and then helped current commissioner Jim Williams complete the deal.Before coming to GSA, Wagner directed telecommunications at the Treasury Department, evaluated telecommunications issues at OMB and evaluated the economic impact of regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency.He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics and engineering from Princeton University in New Jersey.