People: Senior sales exec

Every Monday on GovExec.com, the People column announces the arrivals and departures of top federal managers and executives. To submit an announcement, e-mail it to klunney@govexec.com or fax it to 202-739-8511.

The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service has appointed Mary G. R. Whitley as the service's first assistant commissioner for sales. Whitley moves into the Senior Executive Service after serving as deputy assistant commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Integration within GSA's Federal Technology Service. Whitley was in the first class of women to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy in 1980 and was an Army officer for 11 years.

Also joining the Senior Executive Service ranks is William Cooper, who recently replaced Tom Collinsworth as director of the Transportation Engineering Agency, a division of the Military Traffic Management Command. Cooper has been with the agency since 1979. Collinsworth retired in April.

Mary Lou Affleck, the Rural Housing Service program director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Montana, received a 2000 Excellence in Leadership Award from Women Executives in State Government for her innovative policies in providing affordable housing to rural residents, 40 percent of whom are single women head of households.

Robert P. Bubniak, associate deputy assistant secretary for telecommunications at the Department of Veterans Affairs, was re-elected to a second term as the chairman of the Federal Technology Service Interagency Management Council. The council advises the head of the General Services Administration on government-wide telecommunications issues.

U.S. Army Europe and the 7th Army in Germany welcomed Command Sergeant Major (CSM) David L. Lady back into the fold. Lady assumed duties as the command's new senior non-commissioned officer after serving as the CSM for the U.S. Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, Ky. CSM Lady was selected as Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year in 1983 for U.S. Army Europe and the 7th Army.

Richard Apley has been named the new director of the Office of Independent Inventor Programs at the Patent and Trademark Office, replacing Donald G. Kelly. Apley has been the treasurer and an executive board member of the Supervisory Patent Examiner and Classifiers Organization since 1984.

The U.S. Army Transportation Corps Regiment inducted retired Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery, D-Miss. as an honorary member for his long-time support of the country's Reserve Component forces. His efforts in securing educational benefits for veterans resulted in the Montgomery GI Bill.