NRC EMPLOYEE RECOGNIZED AS AN 

AGENT OF CHANGE IN THE FEDERAL 100 AWARDS 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Paul Ricketts, a senior 

level information technology security officer in the Office of Computer 

Security, was recognized in Federal Computer Week’s Federal 100

awards as an “Agent of Change” for his accomplishments in government 

information technology (IT). 

 

 “I am honored to receive this recognition," said Ricketts. "This 

award is really for the outstanding team of talented NRC staff who are 

dedicated every day to carrying out the agency's mission to protect people 

and the environment." 

 Ricketts will be honored at an event March 25 at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, Va. 

The Federal 100 recognizes individuals from government, industry and academia who 

significantly influenced how the federal government buys, uses or manages information 

technology. Federal 100 winners are recognized for their risk-taking, vision and pioneering spirit 

in the federal IT community. The winners are nominated by Federal Computer Week readers and 

selected by an independent panel of judges for their contributions to the development, acquisition 

or management of federal IT. 

 Ricketts was cited, among other accomplishments, for his distinguished service in 

overseeing the agency’s compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act 

(FISMA). He applied his in-depth knowledge and experience in developing, implementing and 

maintaining information security policies, procedures, controls, and tools to support the 

certifications and accreditation of the agency’s systems, contingency plan development and 

testing, security categorizations, annual control testing plans of action, and milestone tracking 

and remediation. 

 

 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 09-057 March 24, 2009
“Paul Ricketts’ contributions to the NRC mission have been significant,” said Roy 

Zimmerman, director of the Nuclear Security and Incident Response Office. “This was clearly 

demonstrated by his subject matter expertise and the positive collaborative working relationship 

he established with my staff during the certification and accreditation of systems within my 

office.” 

Patrick Howard, the NRC chief information security officer, said Ricketts ensured the 

certification and accreditation of 13 information systems within the first seven months of his 

assignment. Additionally, “he made certain that contingency plans for 100 percent of the NRC’s 

major systems were prepared and tested, and improved the quality of system security 

documentation to allow the agency to eliminate the material weakness that was declared in a 

September 2007 Inspector General Report.” Howard added, “Paul continues to provide 

authoritative advice and counsel to me and to agency leadership on programmatic, infrastructure, 

and administrative aspects of IT security.” 

 Ricketts has more than 27 years of experience in the information technology industry, 

most recently from his role at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

National Centers for Environmental Prediction, where he served as the information technology 

security officer. While there, he developed and managed the organization’s information security 

program and represented management on all information security related issues. Prior to joining 

NOAA, he worked at the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as a 

supervisory IT specialist in charge of enterprise operations and systems disaster recovery 

management. 

 

 He has a master’s degree in information technology and is a certified information systems 

security professional. He is also an adjunct faculty member of Prince George’s Community 

College, where he has been teaching computer information systems and engineering technology 

courses for more than 10 years. 

### 

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE 

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.