University of Maryland confirms Kundra's credentials

Challenging claims in a highly discussed blog post, University of Maryland officials told Federal Computer Week today that federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the university system.

Kundra earned an undergraduate degree in behavioral and social sciences in 1998, according to a University of Maryland at College Park spokeswoman. University of Maryland University College spokesman Chip Cassano confirmed that Kundra earned a Masters of Science in Information Systems Management in 2001.

Kundra also taught an undergraduate class at UMUC, Cassano said.

The blog post by John C. Dvorak accuses Kundra of inflating his resume, claiming to hold degrees he doesn't have and to have had jobs he didn't hold. The post, “Special Report: Is US Chief Information Officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra a Phony?” appeared on the Dvorak Uncensored Web site. Dvorak is also a contributing editor of PC Magazine.

In the blog post, Dvorak said he was unable to confirm that Kundra received a Master of Science degree in information technology from the University of Maryland's College Park campus. Kundra received the degree from University of Maryland University College, which is a separate institution under the University System of Maryland, university officials confirmed. Dvorak apparently later amended his original post to acknowledge that.

Obama administration officials at first did not respond to a request for comment on Dvorak’s charges, but they did provide links to two blog posts that challenge Dvorak’s assertions. In one of the posts, on Gigaom, an unnamed White House official called Dvorak’s article “a gross smear” and “highly inaccurate.” Gigaom's Om Malik said Kundra himself "called back and said that it was clear that 'someone was spinning partial truths.' ”

Office of Management and Budget communications director Kenneth Baer later acknowledged to FCW that he was the source of the first Gigaom quotes. “These are the worst type of lies and distortions about a public figure, and they rightfully have been debunked," he told FCW.

Kundra, who served as chief technology officer in the Washington D.C., government before his presidential appointment, is a strong advocate for emerging technologies such as cloud computing and Web 2.0 tools. He has also pushed for the White House to use technology as a tool for achieving open government goals.

In March, just after his appointment as federal CIO, Kundra took a brief leave of absence following the FBI's arrest of an employee in Kundra's former Washington, D.C., city government office, and a contractor. Kundra was never a suspect in that investigation, and the FBI officially cleared him of any involvement in the case. 

Dvorak, a self-avowed provocateur in the blogosphere, has been with PC Magazine since 1986, according to his own official bio.