Gregory D. Rothwell

APPS II, US VISIT, Deepwater. These shorthand terms might mean little to most Americans, but to security officials and government contractors, they represent the future of homeland security. And it's Gregory Rothwell's job to make them a reality.

Rothwell, 53, is the chief procurement officer at the Homeland Security Department. He's responsible for the department's major acquisitions, including those for US VISIT, a program to track the more than 35 million visitors who enter the United States each year, and for CAPPS II, a system to flag potential terrorists or other dangerous airline passengers. Rothwell is also point man for the agency's more routine purchases, ranging from paper clips to printers.

This last role has occupied much of Rothwell's time at DHS. When he arrived in July 2003, several branches of the new department-including Secretary Tom Ridge's office-had no procurement support. Rothwell quickly formed an office to handle acquisitions for Ridge and DHS's Directorate of Science and Technology, among other branches.

At the seven agencies that entered the Homeland Security Department with their own procurement shops, Rothwell is working to standardize DHS purchases from the private sector, a move that should yield savings. "We shouldn't have everybody having their own contracts for uniforms," he says.

Like Jim Williams, director of the US VISIT program, Rothwell came to the department from the Internal Revenue Service, where he served as an assistant commissioner for procurement and held other senior acquisition positions. Rothwell also has had senior procurement jobs at the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service.

At the IRS, Rothwell tried to improve communication with contractors, a move that cut the number of lawsuits filed over IRS procurements. He is bringing the same approach to Homeland Security. "I want the private sector to feel that we're open, we're honest, we're fair, and we're quick," he says. A career civil servant, Rothwell is seen as someone who can sell his political superiors on the benefits of innovative procurement strategies, such as the Coast Guard's Deepwater contract to redesign its aging offshore fleet.

Rothwell received bachelor's degrees in English and in economics and business administration from Marymount College in Kansas in 1972. He has a master's in public administration from the University of Denver. He hails from Salina, Kan.