ACT-IAC Rocky Mountain Breakfast featuring Rick Holgate, ATF

H. Richard Holgate was appointed as Assistant Director for Science & Technology and Chief Information Officer on August 3, 2009. In that role, he is responsible for strategy, planning, management, and delivery of information technology and information services; financial investigative services; and laboratory services, in support of ATF’s mission.

In 2004, Dr. Holgate was appointed to be the Assistant Director for Information Technology and Command Information Officer at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). In 2007, he was promoted to Executive Assistant Director, a new position established under an agreement with the Director of Naval Intelligence. In that capacity, he was responsible for: delivery of IT services to NCIS's 2,400+ employees worldwide; transition of NCIS to the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI); management of NCIS' application portfolio; IT strategy and planning; and integration of NCIS's information management needs with those of its collaborative counterparts across the Department of the Navy and Department of Defense, as well as other federal, state and local organizations.

Prior to joining NCIS, Dr. Holgate was employed as a Senior Manager with BearingPoint, Inc. During his eight years at BearingPoint, he fulfilled a variety of responsibilities including all aspects of project management, team management, and business development. His clients included many organizations across the Department of Defense, and specifically within the Department of the Navy he worked with information technology, Navy Staff, logistics, and financial management organizations. Dr. Holgate also led a Zero-Based Review of NCIS's mission and activities in 2002, and worked closely with the NCIS Modernization and leadership teams, first as a contractor and then as Command Information Officer.

Prior to his work at BearingPoint, Dr. Holgate worked at the MITRE Corporation, where he supported the Air Force, Army, and intelligence community on issues related to, respectively: base realignment and closure and environmental restoration; chemical weapons demilitarization; and arms control verification.

Dr. Holgate has been a certified Project Management Professional and is a member of the Project Management Institute, the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, the National Defense Industrial Association, the Navy League, the Naval Institute, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the American Chemical Society, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Dr. Holgate's educational background includes degrees in chemical engineering from Princeton University (BSE) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS and PhD).