John G. Vonglis

Air Force
John G. Vonglis
Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Management,
Acting Comptroller

John G. Vonglis isn't afraid to take on uphill battles, a trait that should serve him well as the senior Air Force leader charged with managing the department's $124 billion budget. In 2000, the Republican Vonglis took on six-term Democrat Nita Lowey in the race for New York's 18th Congressional District. It was the native New Yorker's first run for public office and he garnered only 31 percent of the vote, compared with Lowey's 67 percent.

As the acting Air Force comptroller, he'll have plenty of opportunities to take on tough challenges. He shares with his peers at the Army and the Navy the unenviable task of modernizing the services' antiquated and unwieldy finance and accounting systems, which are among the worst in government.

Before joining the Air Force staff, Vonglis worked as a special assistant to David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, where he oversaw implementation of the President's Management Agenda and special programs supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2002 to 2004. Prior to becoming acting comptroller, he was principal deputy assistant secretary for financial management.

Vonglis came to government in 2002 after more than a decade in the private sector. He was chief financial officer at Thompson Financial Corp. and before that, director of global finance at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, both in New York. In 2001, Vonglis, an Army Reserve officer, was called to active duty; he served at U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

He holds an MBA from Fordham University's Martino Graduate School of Business. He also earned a master's degree from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.