Biographies

Mr. Dean G. Popps
Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, US Army

Dean G. Popps became the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology [ASA (ALT)] on January 3, 2008. He also continues to serve as the Principal Deputy, a position to which he was appointed on July 24, 2004.

As the Acting ASA (ALT), Mr. Popps serves as the Army Acquisition Executive, the Senior Procurement Executive, the Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, and the Army’s Senior Research and Development official. He also has principal responsibility for all Department of the Army matters related to logistics.

Mr. Popps leads the execution of the Army’s acquisition function and the acquisition management system. His responsibilities include providing oversight for the life cycle management and sustainment of Army weapons systems and equipment from research and development through test and evaluation, acquisition, logistics, fielding, and disposition. Mr. Popps also oversees the Elimination of Chemical Weapons Program. In addition, he is responsible for appointing, managing, and evaluating program executive officers and managing the Army Acquisition Corps and the Army Acquisition Workforce.

In 2003, Mr. Popps was recruited to join the Department of Defense Coalitional Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad, Iraq, where he served as Director of Industrial Conversion and worked to restructure the former regime’s 52 Military Industry Commission companies. Subsequently, he helped create the new Iraqi Ministry of Science and Technology and served as the CPA Deputy Senior Advisor to that Ministry until mid-2004. He also served on the CPA’s Iraq Transition Planning Team in June 2004 and worked to transfer authority to the new Iraqi government. He has received several awards with regard to his work in Iraq, most notably The Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award from then-U.S. Ambassador to Iraq L. Paul Bremer.

Prior to entering government service, Mr. Popps was a businessman, attorney, and consultant. He founded the Dallas-Fort Worth Teleport and served as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for 15 years prior to its successful sale to a New York Stock Exchange listed competitor. He also served as Chief Operating Officer of Communications Technology Management, Inc. In addition, Mr. Popps was the Operations Supervisor for the single largest Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in Northern Virginia history, involving Computer Learning Centers, Inc. He coordinated the disposal of assets in 10 states, helped to coordinate the claims of more than 10,000 students, employees and creditors, and resolved hundreds of liquidation issues.

A pioneer of the teleport concept in the United States, Mr. Popps served on the Board of Directors and as Secretary General and CEO of the World Teleport Association. Among his many accomplishments, he initiated the first satellite link between ABC Television and The National Captioning Institute for the delivery of captioned services to hearing impaired viewers. He was an initial incorporator of C-SPAN and provided satellite transmission for this public affairs cable network. In addition, he served on the Presidential Trade Mission to Greece and as an advisor on business development to Middle Eastern heads of state.

An Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps student at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a graduate of the Potomac School of Law in Washington, D.C., Mr. Popps has worked in the District of Columbia criminal court system, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate. He is a member of District of Columbia Bar and the State Bar of Georgia.