Obituary: Diana Gowen, long-time federal telecom exec

Diana Gowen, the long-time federal telecommunications expert, passed away on Thursday after a long battle with cancer.

Gowen was the senior vice president and general manager of MetTel’s federal practice for the past four-and-a-half years and held leadership positions with major telecommunications companies including CenturyLink Federal, Qwest Government Services, MCI Government Services and AT&T Commercial Markets.

“It is with great sadness that we say farewell to our friend and colleague, Diana Gowen, a remarkably strong and revered veteran of government telecommunications,” said Marshall Aronow, the MetTel CEO, in a statement. “Since joining our team in 2015, Diana began building MetTel’s federal practice – bringing with her a reputation for only ‘making promises you can keep’ and a leadership style that brought out the best in those around her. We are honored that Diana chose to be a part of MetTel and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family.”

Gowen played a role in every major federal telecommunications effort over the last 30 years from FTS to Networx to the current Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program.

She was known for her candidness and honest assessments of federal efforts. She was always accessible to the press, spoke often in the federal community and brought a level of realism to the public telecommunications discussion that was rarely seen among vendors.

Gowen earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business and math, and later a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Maryland.

She received the lifetime achievement award in 2018 from the American Business Awards.

“Surrounding yourself with good people is half the battle, because it takes a village to be successful in this marketplace,” said Gowen when she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Thank you Diana for your service to the community, the nation and we wish her family peace and hope they can take solace in her tremendous impact on all of us.

Long-time procurement exec retires

Timothy Shaughnessy, a senior program analyst for procurement at the IRS, retired on May 29 after 33 years of federal service.

Shaughnessy has been with the IRS since November 2017 and before that he worked at the Department of Homeland Security’s procurement office for almost seven years.

“He is a driven and passionate professional, with a staggeringly quick intellect and insatiable desire to complete whatever task he sets himself to,” said Harrison Smith, the IRS’s deputy chief procurement officer, in a post on LinkedIn. “For those of you who know Tim, this is a day of mixed emotion — we are certainly sad to see him go, but his family is such a constant source of joy for him, and we are so thankful to them for sharing Tim with us over the years.”

Shaughnessy helped lead several key initiatives at the IRS including most recently the Pilot IRS program, which aims to develop emerging technology projects through incremental funding, and the Treasurywide Data Governance and Analytics (DGA) Initiative.

Additionally, he helped promote the testing of robotics process automation (RPA) at the IRS to do contractor responsibility determinations.

“Timothy Shaughnessy is one of the most passionate, gifted and dependable colleagues I’ve ever known. Over the past six years at IRS and DHS, I can’t count how many times Tim launched a key initiative, tackled a challenge or resolved a crisis when we were in need,” said Mitchell Winans, a special assistant in the IRS’s Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, in a LinkedIn post. “He is an incredible workhorse and team player that never lost sight of his priorities, and always reminded us of the importance of family and friends.”

Shaughnessy retired from the Air Force, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, before joining the IRS the first time in 2010.

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