Dr. John Zangardi became the Principal Deputy Department of Defense Chief Information Officer on October 2, 2016, and also served as the Acting DoD CIO. As the Acting DoD CIO, Dr. Zangardi assisted as the primary advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Information Management / Information Technology and Information Assurance as well as non-intelligence space systems; critical satellite communications, navigation, and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications.
Dr. Zangardi’s background includes acquisition, policy, legislative affairs, resourcing, and operations. In his most recent assignment as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information Operations, and Space (DASN C4I, IO, and Space), he was responsible for providing acquisition oversight for C4I, cyber, space, business enterprise, and information technology programs. In 2014 and 2015, he additionally served as the acting Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (DON CIO).
Dr. Zangardi is a retired Naval Flight Officer and served in a variety of command and staff assignments. After retiring from the Navy, Dr. Zangardi was selected for appointment to the Senior Executive Service (SES) and assigned as the Deputy Director Warfare Integration Programs (N6FB) within the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Communications Networks (N6) Directorate. With the stand-up of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Information Dominance (N2/N6), he was assigned as the Director for Program Integration and as Deputy to the Director for Concepts, Strategy, and Integration.
He is a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania and a graduate of the University of Scranton. Dr. Zangardi was awarded a Master of Science degree from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from George Mason University.
