Richard K. Gunderson
Assistant Administrator for Acquisition
Rick Gunderson became TSA's assistant administrator for acquisition and chief procurement executive in November 2005, responsible for an annual $2 billion acquisition program.
He provides centralized acquisition support to TSA operations across the nation's airports and other modes of transportation as well as to one of the largest and most complex acquisition programs in DHS. TSA's acquisitions include major systems, operational contracting, construction, leasing, research and development, grants and other types of financial assistance.
As the chief procurement executive, Gunderson provides executive leadership to TSA's acquisition program, including investment review, award and administration of contracts, financial assistance, interagency agreements and other transactions. He is responsible for development of the contracting workforce as well as acquisition policy and is a business advisor to TSA's leadership. He is also responsible for instituting program management as a core competency at TSA.
Gunderson joined TSA in December 2002 and served as a division director and deputy assistant administrator for acquisition prior to assuming his current responsibilities. He has been instrumental in leading the transformation of acquisition and business strategies, and he directed the acquisition planning and execution of key TSA mission critical programs such as Secure Flight, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, and the Checked Baggage Deployment program.
Prior to joining TSA, Gunderson served as a contracting officer for the Department of Defense's Naval Sea System Command. There, he led contracting efforts associated with numerous major weapon systems.
He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from The College of William and Mary.
