Administrator Dan Tangherlini to depart GSA in February

Less than three years after taking control of the General Services Administration, Dan Tangherlini will leave the agency next month.

Tangherlini announced the news in a letter posted on GSA’s website.

“After nearly three years of working together, I will be leaving GSA on February 13,” Tangherlini said. “It has been my highest honor to serve the American people, our President, and this Administration. I want everyone in this agency to know that it has been a pleasure to do such important work with committed public servants such as you.”

After Tangherlini’s departure, Deputy Administrator Denise Turner Roth will act as the administrator until President Barack Obama appoints a permanent successor. In a statement, President Obama called Tangherlini a “true public servant.”

“[Tangherlini] leaves this Administration with an extraordinary record of accomplishment,” Obama said. “Over the past six years, Dan has worked to help make sure government serves citizens more effectively. His leadership of the General Services Administration at a critical moment helped make the agency more efficient, transparent and accountable to the American people. I am deeply grateful for his service, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

When Obama tapped Tangherlini for the job in 2013, he had already been serving as acting administrator since the year before. Tangherlini took the helm after then-Administrator Martha Johnson stepped down when the agency’s inspector general found that the agency had spent more than $800,000 during a 2010 conference in Las Vegas. Right after starting as acting administrator, Tangherlini initiated a top-to-bottom review of the agency that led to the consolidation of the agency’s information technology offices and led to a similar approach with its human resources, administrative and financial offices.

“Much has changed at GSA since I arrived here in April of 2012,” Tangherlini said. “Today, GSA is stronger, more efficient and better able to serve our partner agencies and the American people. I am proud to have played some role in these changes, but I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve alongside all of you.”

Before coming to GSA, Tangherlini worked as the chief financial officer and assistant secretary for management at the Treasury Department. Before that, he served as the District of Columbia’s city administrator and deputy mayor. He has also worked with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the District Department of Transportation, and as the CFO at D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.

Tangherlini entered government as a presidential management fellow at the White House Office of Management and Budget in 1991.

Stan Soloway, the former deputy undersecretary for defense and director of defense reform and now president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, commended Tangherlini for his innovative approach to GSA.

“Dan deserves a lot of credit for pushing new ideas and new thinking,” Soloway said in a statement. “We didn’t always agree, but he was always open to dialogue and focused on delivering quality for the government.”