Georgia Department of Corrections
Brian Owens, Commissioner
Director of Public Affairs
Joan Heath
Contact: Office of Public Affairs (478) 992-5248
STATE OF GEORGIA
For Immediate Release
Fayette County Native Named Office of Information Technology Director
Forsyth - Commissioner Brian Owens is pleased to announce Michael Nelson-Palmer as Director of the Office of Information Technology. Nelson-Palmer will assume duties as the Director of OIT effective May 21, 2012. As Director of OIT, Nelson-Palmer will oversee and coordinate the operations of Technical Services, Enterprise Systems Development and Administration for the agency. He will also support over 8,200 technology users at over 200 sites for the Department.
“The Department is very pleased to have an employee with such exceptional talent like Michael join our team,” said Commissioner Brian Owens. “His wealth of knowledge will greatly benefit the Office of Information Technology as well as our agency as a whole,” added Owens.
Nelson-Palmer has more than 40 years experience in worldwide telecommunications and information system organizations, ranging from technical expertise to information technology management. Nelson-Palmer has held positions at Five Rivers Services, LLC, where he served as the Senior Research Engineer; Georgia Tech Research Institute, where he served as the Instructor at the College of Computing; and Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, where he served as Information Technology Director. Nelson-Palmer received his Master’s degree in Information Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Engineering from the United State Military Academy. He retired as Colonel after 26 years of service in the United States Army Signal Corps.
The Department of Corrections is the fourth largest prison system in the United States and is responsible for supervising nearly 60,000 state prisoners and over 150,000 probationers. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 12,000 employees.
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