FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, Announces the Appointment of Darwin A. Johns the FBI’s Chief Information Officer

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, today announced the appointment of Darwin A. John as the FBI’s Chief Information Officer. Mr. John replaces Bob E. Dies, who recently ended a two-year stint as both CIO and assistant director for information resources with the FBI.

As he has with other specialized positions, Director Mueller tapped into the private sector for Mr. John, who since 1990 has served as managing director of Information and Communications Systems worldwide for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. There, he set strategic direction and architecture for leveraging the use of information and communications technologies for the 11 million member church. For example, he helped lead the creation of the Family Search Internet web site, which since going up in 1999, has averaged seven to eight million hits a day against the 900 million names contained in the system.

Director Mueller said Mr. John brings a “demonstrated capability to achieve broad-based results in an area critical to the FBI’s success, particularly at a time when the Bureau is modernizing its information technologies — while reorganizing and re-engineering — and, undergoing unprecedented change in its investigative mission and priorities.”

Stephen Finnerty, president of the Society for Information Management, described Mr. John as “one of the most progressive leaders in the information systems industry,” and said he expects him to make “valuable and outstanding contributions to the FBI, its mission, and the American people.”

As Chief Information Officer for the FBI, Mr. John will lead the development of information technology strategies, which support the FBI’s mission goals and objectives. He will work closely with the Laboratory, Criminal Justice Information Services and Information Resources Divisions, where forensic technologies, law enforcement services and investigative and administrative support are concentrated. Mr. John will report directly to Director Mueller.

Prior to his current position with the Church, Mr. John served in senior information management positions with a number of major U.S. corporations, including Scott Paper, where he was vice-president; General Mills, where he was Director of Information and Communications Systems Development and Operations; and, Honeywell, where he was a senior systems analyst. He holds masters and bachelors degrees from Utah State University.