Speaker Bios 

John Rucker
John Rucker has served the Department of Veterans Affairs for 28 years. A self-described “Air Force brat,” Mr. Rucker lived in a number of states, and considers Albuquerque, New Mexico home. Mr. Rucker began his service at the Austin Automation Center (now the Austin Information Technology Center). When VA launched it’s highly regarded VistA medical information system program, Mr. Rucker joined the VistA project as one of the original “site managers” charged with implementing hospital computer systems virtually from scratch. He served in several management positions within the VistA program, eventually becoming the operations manager for the VistA support program and was a key player in consolidating regional support teams into national ones. After the successful deployment of VistA, Mr. Rucker joined the Austin Information Technology Center in 2001, serving as the deputy and later chief of the Technical Infrastructure Division, which was charged with running national VA systems. When the national VA data centers were combined into a single Corporate Data Center organization, Mr. Rucker was named the Chief Technology Officer.

Mr. Rucker became the Acting Executive Director of Corporate Data Center Operations (CDCO) in August, 2007. As Acting Executive Director, Mr. Rucker now manages the VA’s four national data centers, which are responsible for nearly $100 billion in veterans’ benefits, payments, and payroll processing for the Department as well as national health and benefits systems. In addition, the Austin ITC is a franchise fund facility and provides data centers services for other government agencies, such as NARA and EPA. The CDCO also operates the VA’s national Records Center and Vault, which is a storage facility for VA records. He has been responsible for the integration of staff and programs at the four centers into one cohesive national organization. Mr. Rucker emphasizes the need to keep existing systems providing services to veterans, while adopting newer technologies that will better service veterans in the future and which will allow the VA to better operate with other government Departments and agencies, such as the Department of Defense and Department of Treasury, to ensure that veteran health care and benefits are processed and delivered as quickly as possible.

Mr. Rucker graduated from the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in history and did graduate study at the University of Arizona. While working as a graduate student for the Tucson Police Department, Mr. Rucker was exposed to early computerization efforts by the police and was so impressed by the potential of information technology that he made a radical career change and became a computer programmer.

Larry Singer
Larry Singer is Vice President of U.S. State, Local and Education Sales, responsible for driving growth in this important segment within HP’s Technology Solutions Group. Since joining HP Larry has led a resurgence in the HP’s SLED business, engaging a broader partner community to meet the needs of a public sector undergoing a transformation in their adoption of new technology to modernize operations.

Larry has more than 20 years of experience in both the public and private sector, with expertise and leadership roles across information technology, public policy and administration, corporate strategy, engineering, sales, marketing, business development, procurement, and consulting functions.

A former Senior Vice President at Sun Microsystems, where he was a member of the Executive Management Group, Larry served as CIO in Residence and Strategic Insights Officer. He also chaired Sun’s Global Sourcing Council. Previously he was appointed by the governor of Georgia as that state’s first CIO and first Executive Director of the Georgia Technology Authority, responsible for developing a statewide IT policy and strategy. He has been a frequent columnist and contributing editor to both Government Technology Magazine and to Public CIO Magazine

Prior to that, Larry was chairman and CEO of Public Interest Breakthroughs, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) strategic consulting company that he founded to work with state and local governments in health and human services. He also served as a research fellow in the Technology and Telecommunications in the Public Sector program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. His early experience includes sales management positions with Texas Instruments and Computer Associates International.

A graduate of the University of Redlands (Johnston College) in Redlands, California, Larry completed the Senior Executive Fellows public policy program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

He lives with his wife and five children in Emerald Hills, California. 

Cameron Evans
As the first, national and chief technology officer of Microsoft Education, Cameron Evans is responsible for shaping and executing Microsoft’s technology and policy strategy in US Education. Cameron chairs Microsoft’s Higher Education Advisory Group (HEAG) and the K12 Advisory Group for connecting customer insights into Microsoft’s industry engagement. As Microsoft’s Education Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cameron’s principle work focuses on large, complex, and strategic innovation for public/private schools in K-12 and higher education, museums, libraries, research universities, and academic medical centers across the nation.

Cameron is a member of Microsoft's Education Leadership Team and is the national spokesperson for institutional innovation and transformation. Before he was named National Technology Officer/Chief Technology Officer in July 2009, Cameron was the Group Sales Manager for Higher Education.

Since joining Microsoft in January 2004, Cameron has served in a variety of positions, including managing the development and sales execution of Account Executives, Technical Sales Specialists, Industry Solutions Professionals, and Microsoft Certified Partners. In addition, Cameron has served as the Microsoft Liaison for the Schools Interoperability Framework Association. Cameron continues to keynote industry conferences to connect Microsoft’s broad global and education vision with meaningful, real-world transformation.

Before joining Microsoft, Cameron was a K-12 chief information officer and cabinet-level executive. Cameron is a US Air Force Veteran. He holds a bachelor's degree in management-computer information systems from Park University. Additionally, Cameron is currently completing his masters in business administration at The University of Texas at Dallas. He enjoys songwriting and producing music; eating dessert first; and international travel with his wife and daughter.