Former Dell exec nominated for IT post at VA

Robert McFarland, a former Dell Inc. vice president, has been nominated to become the next assistant secretary for information and technology at the Veterans Affairs Department.

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee must approve his selection for the CIO post, after which the full Senate must vote on the White House nomination.

McFarland's nomination Tuesday follows the June resignation of John Gauss. Edward Meagher, deputy CIO, has been acting in the post since Gauss stepped down.

At Dell, McFarland was vice president of government relations until his resignation in May. Prior to that, he managed the computer giant's military, federal, state and local government business as vice president and general manager of the government sector.

Under McFarland's watch, which began in 1996, the Dell government group became the top supplier of computers to federal agencies and expanded the company's presence in the Defense Department.

McFarland, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, holds a bachelor's degree in business management from LeTourneau University.