Christopher Emery

Christopher Beauregard Emery (born August 1, 1957) is the chief enterprise architect of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Emery was a White House Usher in the Reagan Administration, from January 1986 until his dismissal in March 1994 from the Clinton Administration. Emery is the author of the book White House Usher: Stories from the Inside (2017).

This article is about the former White House Assistant Chief Usher and author. For the British poet, see Chris Emery.

Christopher B. Emery
August 2017
Chief Enterprise Architect
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Assumed office
September 2015
Director & Chief Information Officer
U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division
In office
December 2012 – September 2015
Director, Policy & IT Portfolio Governance U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief CIO
In office
March 2010 – December 2012
Chief Information Officer
Architect of the Capitol
In office
2006–2008
Chief Enterprise Architect
Architect of the Capitol
In office
2004–2006
Howard County Council Administrator
In office
March 1995 – December 1998
White House Usher
In office
January 1986 – March 1994
Personal details
Born (1957-08-01) August 1, 1957
Sykesville, Maryland
RelationsJennifer Bassey (stepmother)
Natasha Gajewski (stepsister)
Children4
Alma materHoward Community College (AA)
University of Maryland University College (BS)

Early life and education

Early life

Emery was born in Sykesville, Maryland. His father, Roy Frederick Emery Jr., served in Great Britain as a U.S. Army Air Force captain. He was later a dairy farmer and attorney in Ellicott City, Maryland, as well a thoroughbred horse breeder later in life.[1] His Parisian mother, Jacqueline Nicole Marchal, served in French Indochina as a nurse in the French Army. She was later a French language teacher at Glenelg Country School, as well as a freelance French and German translator.[2] Emery's parents were married in 1949 and moved from Cooksville, Maryland, to the historic 18th-century residence, Howard Lodge in 1959.[1] Emery has two sisters, Ariane and Lynn. His parents divorced in 1971.[1] His father remarried to actress Jennifer Bassey until his death in 1991. His mother later married former commercial pilot turned statistician Riaz Hussein Rana whose two daughters, Holly Bosshard and Symple Health founder and CEO, Natasha Gajewski, became Emery's stepsisters.[3][4][5]

Education

Emery has an associate degree from Howard Community College.[6] In 1996, Emery graduated with a B.S. in information systems with a minor in management from the University of Maryland University College where he also completed graduate work in technology management.[7][8]

White House Usher

Ronald Reagan and the George H.W. Bush years

Emery began his career at the White House as a computer specialist after answering a job advertisement in The Washington Post.[7] Soon, White House Chief Usher Gary J. Walters hired him to replace the retiring Nelson Pierce as an assistant White House chief usher.[7] Emery served as an usher in the Reagan Administration beginning in January 1986.[7] In this capacity, he worked in a four-person office to oversee the White House estate, including managing the 89 residence staff.[7] In addition, part of Emery's job was to carry out White House functions such as receptions, dinners, and conferences. In so doing, Emery worked in tandem with the First Family, the White House staff, the chief usher, the press office, the Secret Service, and military leaders. Emery gave personal tours of the White House to private guests including some notable figures such as: Barbra Streisand, Dana Carvey, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Julie Andrews, Johnny Carson, and Melanie Griffith.[9][7][10]

Bill Clinton years and firing

On March 3, 1994, Emery's unusually abrupt firing was the subject of nationwide news when Hillary Clinton dismissed him for communicating with former first lady Barbara Bush.[11][12][13][14] Despite passing several FBI investigations and background checks, Emery was fired by Hillary Clinton for "an incredible lack of discretion" after communicating twice with the former first lady.[12][13][15] He was the first-ever White House usher to be fired.[7] A White House usher does not typically change with administrations.[9] White House Chief Usher Gary J. Walters, was not permitted by the White House to testify before a Congressional subcommittee on Emery's dismissal. This led to some suspicions on Capitol Hill that the White House was attempting to avoid scrutiny about the firing.[16]

Post-White House years

Council Administrator

After his dismissal from the White House, Emery worked for eleven months as a computer consultant.[17] In March 1995, he was appointed council administrator of Howard County, replacing former University System of Maryland assistant vice-chancellor Dr. Sheila Tolliver.[9][18] As the council administrator, he oversaw a staff of 25 people with an operating budget of about $1 million.[19] Views on his tenure are split along party lines.[6] He has earned the praise of Republican Council Chairman Charles C. Feaga and Allan H. Kittleman.[6][17] In June 1996, Emery publicly clashed with Democratic Councilman C. Vernon Gray over his misuse of county funds and resources to aid in his campaign for a position with the National Association of Counties (NAOC).[20] Weeks later, Gray wrongfully accused Emery of leaking NAOC campaign letters to The Baltimore Sun.[21] Emery was vindicated by the Howard County Police Department; Gray subsequently found his letters in a different file in his office.[22] Effective December 4, 1998, Emery resigned when Democrats regained the majority on the Howard County Council.[23][24]

Return to federal government

After his time as a council administrator, Emery returned to the federal government as a supervisory information technology specialist at the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) where he later served as the director of information resources management.[8][25][26] Emery was promoted to chief enterprise architect of the AOC beginning in 2007.[8] In this capacity, he oversaw the enterprise and technology management of the U.S. Capitol, Senate, the House of Representatives, the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court.[8] He contributed, along with other information enterprise professionals from the federal government, private sector, and academia, to the publication of The Integrated Enterprise Life Cycle: Enterprise Architecture, Investment Management, and System Development.[8] With colleagues at the AOC and the National Science Foundation, Emery also published a paper for the 40th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.[27] In 2009, he became the chief information officer of the AOC.[28]

In 2010, Emery served as the director of portfolio governance in the Office of the Chief CIO for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Two years later, in December 2012, he became the first chief information officer of the United States Department of Justice National Security Division. There he served on the DOJ CIO Council to help develop the strategic plan for the Department's information and technology goals for fiscal years 2015–2018.[29]

Emery currently serves as the chief enterprise architect for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Memoir

In 2017, Emery published a memoir, White House Usher: Stories from the Inside, which focused on his time as a White House usher.[30][10] Former First Lady Barbara Bush wrote the book's foreword.[10]

Personal life

A past resident of Laurel, Maryland, Emery currently resides in Washington, D.C..[1] He was formerly married to Penny, with whom he has one daughter and three stepchildren.[7][9][31]

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References
  1. "Roy F. Emery, Howard farmer, lawyer, dies at 70". The Baltimore Sun. December 3, 1991. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  2. "Jacqueline Rana". Washington Post. February 19, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  3. Schudel, Matt (November 15, 2012). "Riaz H. Rana, company founder". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  4. "Obituaries for January 2013 | Amstat News". American Statistical Association. January 1, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  5. Clare, David (April 18, 2014). "The Friday Interview: Natasha Gajewski, Founder of Symple App". Pixel Health. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  6. Timberg, Craig (July 21, 1996). "Council official to testify in FBI file probe Panel seeks story of White House usher fired by first lady". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  7. Sherrill, Martha (March 23, 1994). "THE MAN HILLARY USHERED OUT". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  8. Handbook of enterprise systems architecture in practice. Saha, Pallab, 1970-. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. 2007. ISBN 9781599041919. OCLC 317384365.CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. Maass, Peter (September 10, 1996). "AFTER THE USHER'S FALL". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  10. B., Emery, Christopher (2017). White House Usher: Stories from the Inside. [S.l.]: Booklocker.com. ISBN 978-1634926560. OCLC 1012751011.
  11. Brower, Kate Andersen. "The Secret Lives of Hillary and Bill in the White House". Politico Magazine. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  12. Lewis, Neil A. (July 4, 1996). "Attack Widens on Clinton Staff Practices". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  13. "White House Used IRS File, Documents Say". Los Angeles Times. July 4, 1996. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  14. Kessler, Ronald (2014). The First Family Detail: Secret Service agents reveal the hidden lives of the presidents (First ed.). New York: Crown Forum. pp. 16. ISBN 9780804139212. OCLC 874969647.
  15. Murdock, Deroy (October 1, 2015). "Hillary Clinton, Bane of the Secret Service". National Review. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  16. Jehl, Douglas (March 18, 1994). "Chief White House Usher 'Grounded'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  17. Coram, James M. (February 22, 1995). "Council names new top aide". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  18. The United States government manual 2007-2008. United States. Office of the Federal Register., United States. National Archives and Records Administration. (Rev., June 1, 2007 ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Register. 2007. ISBN 9780160786594. OCLC 172987856.CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. Thomas, Kevin (February 26, 1995). "More to This Job than Irking Hillary". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  20. Timberg, Craig (July 9, 1996). "Report angers Howard councilman Administrator rebuked over campaign data". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  21. Timberg, Craig (July 12, 1996). "Gray seeking police inquiry about letters Councilman accuses GOP administrator of stealing missives". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  22. Timberg, Craig (August 5, 1996). "No crime found in missing letters But police conclusion sets off a new round in councilmen's feud". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  23. Epstein, Gady A. (November 12, 1998). "Election is history, but some still see sparks Date of orientation for council members puts Emery, Gray at odds". tribunedigital-baltimoresun. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  24. Goodman, Charles Babington; Peter S. (November 15, 1998). "FOR LOBBYIST, AN OFFICIAL REBUKE". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  25. Emery, Christopher; Armour, Frank (December 31, 2009). "The Integrated Enterprise". FedTech. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  26. Semiannual Report of the Architect of the Capitol. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2004. p. 2. ISBN 0160836700.
  27. Proceedings of the 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences : January 3-6, 2007, Big Island, Hawaii : abstracts and CD-ROM of full papers. Sprague, Ralph H., IEEE Computer Society. Los Alamitos, Calif.: IEEE Computer Society Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0769527550. OCLC 137225282.CS1 maint: others (link)
  28. Emery, Christopher B.; Armour, Frank (December 31, 2009). "The Integrated Enterprise". FedTech. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  29. "DOJ Strategic Plan For Information Services and Technology 2015–2018". Department of Justice – Office of Chief Information Officer. 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  30. FOX. "Former White House usher shares stories from life inside the presidential mansion". WTTG. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  31. Kessler, Ronald (2009). In the president's secret service : behind the scenes with agents in the line of fire and the presidents they protect. New York: Crown Publishers. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-0307461377. OCLC 464303615.
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