FEMA's Lee to retire in March

Deidre Lee, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's director of management and chief acquisition officer, announced today that she will retire from government March 3 after 32 years of service.

Lee said she does not have plans for what she will do after she leaves government -- although skiing sounds good, she said jokingly.

Lee is well-respected across the government, having worked at NASA more than 30 years ago and held numerous high-profile positions, including the chief procurement position at the Defense Department and administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

She joined FEMA in April 2006 as deputy director of operations. Before that, Lee worked in the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service as the assistant commissioner of Integrated Technology Services. Before joining GSA, she was director of defense procurement and acquisition policy at DOD.

She also was the Office of Management and Budget's administrator for OFPP and associate administrator for procurement at NASA.

Lee has been widely recognized for her work. Last year, she was selected as the Public Sector Partner of the Year as part of the 2007 Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards.