Gregg Prillaman was appointed by the President on September 7, 2005, as the department's Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO). The CHCO serves as the department's lead executive for all matters relating to human resource management, including policy, strategic planning, learning and development, recruitment, performance management, compensation, benefits, union relations, employee relations, and other areas.

Prillaman came to DHS with more than 30 years of experience as a human capital professional, executive, and consultant with a wide range of public-sector and private-sector organizations. He began his career as a federal management intern and foreign service officer with the U.S. Information Agency where he handled union negotiations, grievances and HR policy issues for foreign service and civil service employees around the world. In 1981, he joined the Voice of America as part of a team selected to re-engineer the organization's internal operations and modernize its technical facilities. He was the director of Labor and Employee Relations for the VOA until 1987. Prillaman then served as the corporate director of personnel for RFE/RL, Inc. in Munich, Germany, for five years where he managed the company's HR operations in the U.S, Germany and eighteen other countries. As a management consultant, he worked on human capital and organizational issues for a wide array of corporate, federal, state and local government, and not-for-profit clients. He was a senior consultant and legal advisor with the Hay Group, a firm director and practice leader with Deloitte and Touche, and a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton. His specialty areas include strategic planning, organizational analysis and redesign, change management, compensation, and labor and employee relations.

Prillaman holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in Economics from Eastern Illinois University, an MPA from Harvard University and a JD from George Mason University. He is a member of the Virginia Bar and holds certifications as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and a special certification in Executive Compensation. He is also an adjunct instructor with several universities in the Washington area and a frequent guest speaker on human capital strategies at professional meetings and conferences. He has been married to his wife Cindy since 1971 and has two grown sons, Benjamin and Zachary.

(Courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security)