Spires moves from Learning Tree board to the C-suite

Richard Spires, the former CIO of the Homeland Security Department, has been named CEO of Learning Tree, the financially troubled IT and management training firm.

Spires most recently was CEO of Resilient Network Systems, but he has served on Learning Tree’s board since 2013.

He replaces David Collins, who is resigning but will remain chairman of the board and act as an advisor to company management.

“As we worked together on Learning Tree’s board over the past two years, I am impressed with Richard’s intelligence and his grasp of the company’s business,” Collins said in the company’s announcement.

In July, Learning Tree announced that NASDAQ was delisting the company because it no longer met their requirements for being publicly traded. The company moved to the OTCQX U.S. Market.

The company fell out of NASDAQ compliance when it longer met the equity requirement of $10 million. On the OTC market, the company is currently trading at $1.36 a share. Its 52-week range is 90 cents to $2.52. Its market value is about $16.4 million.

Spires was DHS CIO from 2009 to 2013 and gained a reputation for pushing for more efficient and effective management of the department's disparate IT systems. He also served as vice chairman of the Federal CIO Council and co-chair of the Committee for National Security Systems, which sets the standards for federal classified systems.

He also served at the IRS from 2004-2008, where he was CIO. He also led the IRS Business Systems Modernization program.

In the private sector, he was president and chief operating office of Mantas, a software company that was formed by SRA International and Safeguard Scientific in 2001. In total, he spent 16 years working at SRA.

Spires joined Resilient Network Systems in 2013 after leaving DHS. Resilient is a cybersecurity firm that enables trusted networks for better information sharing.