Renato “Renny” DiPentima joined SRA International in 1995, but his federal career started long before that. He began in the Social Security Administration and credits his government experience for shaping his path.
“I wouldn’t be president and CEO of a public company if I hadn’t built a career in government,” he told WashingtonExec.
DiPentima, former president, CEO and board director of SRA International, has retired from those roles, but remains active in the industry. He’s an advisor and mentor, crediting his government background for giving him insight into how companies can truly add value.
“In government and industry, I try to run it as if it were a business. If people wanted to do something or spend, I would say to them, ‘Would you spend your own money on that?’” DiPentima said.
That strategy paid off. As president of SRA’s government sector business in 1997 — which made up over 90% of the company’s work — revenues grew from $100 million to $1.2 billion by 2005.
Before his industry success, DiPentima spent many formative years in government during a time of significant change. The move to industry was unplanned at the time, but he brought with him a focus on reputation, honesty, integrity and team-building — values that shaped his entire career and were already embedded in SRA’s culture and values.
The Impact of a Federal Service Entrance Exam
Born and raised in New York City, DiPentima attended public school, enjoyed nearly every subject in high school and ran varsity cross country and indoor track. Eager to stay in the area, he attended New York University to study biology and psychology, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.
When he graduated, the nation was heading into the Vietnam War and faced a recession. “The job market was very tough,” he said, “and my father had always encouraged me to consider a government career.”
While walking through the placement office at NYU, advisors told DiPentima the government was hiring and suggested he take the federal service entrance exam. “I guess I did okay on it, because I was quickly notified by Social Security that they’d like me to interview for a job, which I did,” DiPentima said.
Within a week, SSA made an offer. DiPentima soon was working for the federal government in an office on Broadway in Manhattan. “Being recruited for Social Security was one of the greatest events of my life,” DiPentima said, “it’s an agency that I love, they treated me so well.”
During his time at SSA, he was promoted when eligible and given opportunities to further his education. He rose from office rep to field rep, supervisor, office manager and so on.
And on July 30, 1965, while DiPentima was in SSA’s district offices, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, establishing Medicare and Medicaid as separate programs. DiPentima and his team then spent much of their time implementing Medicare.
Soon after that, he spent most of his career at the central office in Baltimore, Maryland, where he got involved in computer systems for quality control and became both a systems and operations analyst.
DiPentima was later assigned to Washington, D.C., to work on welfare reform that helped pass the legislation that created the federal Supplemental Security Income Program. He then returned to SSA in a senior management role to lead its implementation.
While he continued to be promoted within SSA, DiPentima obtained his Master of Arts degree in public policy from George Washington University and a Ph.D. in public policy and technology from the University of Maryland.
“I saw that public policy was becoming more and more dependent on computers, and becoming more and more complex because people thought computers could do anything. So, I focused on that,” DiPentima said.
DiPentima also served as executive officer of the National Commission on Social Security Reform (Greenspan Commission), which produced bipartisan legislation that kept SSA solvent for the next 30 years. After that, he led the project to modernize SSA’s claims programs.
“We were able to get paper almost entirely out of the system,” he said. “We got computers and workstations on everyone’s desks, with access to all online files.”
DiPentima’s early success with modernizing SSA drew attention across government and industry, connecting him more closely to the Washington, D.C., community.
When President Bill Clinton launched the National Performance Review, the head of the General Services Administration tapped DiPentima to chair the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Improvement Team. That work helped lead to the Clinger-Cohen Act and the creation of federal chief information officers.
At the same time, DiPentima was promoted to SSA’s deputy commissioner for systems and CIO, overseeing all of the agency’s information processing, data and voice communications. In 1994, when SSA became an independent agency, he was tasked with managing its separation from the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Most people thought it was a pretty successful transition,” DiPentima said. That’s when DiPentima was eligible to retire from government — and he did.
Unexpected Transitions Out of Retirement
Shortly after leaving government — and to his surprise — DiPentima was approached by several companies interested in bringing him into industry, including SRA.
He joined SRA in 1995 as vice president and CIO. “I went there on the strength of their founder, Ernst Volgenau, and co-founder, Ted Legasey,” he said. “I was so impressed by the culture of honesty, integrity and service, and they really meant it.”
Volgenau was SRA’s founder and longtime CEO. Legasey served as co-founder, executive vice president and chief operating officer.
“Renny clearly understood client needs, and he successfully overcame a steep learning curve in translating his knowledge into business and shaping the company’s development,” Volgenau told WashingtonExec.
Eighteen months after joining, DiPentima became president of SRA’s Government Sector, which grew over 30% annually under his leadership.
“It was a big moment, and it was such a wonderful company, such wonderful people. I left an agency that I loved and joined a company that I loved,” DiPentima said. He credits SRA’s impressive revenue growth under his leadership to his fantastic team, which achieved a series of very successful engagements. “We didn’t let a customer down,” he said. “We delivered.”
In 2002, SRA went public. Its stock rose from $22 to $74, drawing major attention from investors and the industry. By 2005, DiPentima was president and COO. When Volgenau became chairman of the board, he asked DiPentima to step in as CEO.
“I was thrilled,” DiPentima said. “Ernst Volgenau and Ted Legasey were very kind to me and moved me along rapidly.”
As CEO, DiPentima led with a management style centered on mentorship, connection and communication. “The thing for me has always been about trying to maintain a great reputation, honesty, integrity, and focus on building teams,” he said.
Volgenau added that he, Legasey and DiPentima had also built a strong and collaborative relationship. “Ted was an excellent problem solver and inspiring leader. Renny had a magnetic personality and was highly regarded throughout government and our industry,” Volgenau said. “[DiPentima’s] contributions to SRA were magnificent.”
DiPentima retired as president and CEO in 2008, but he didn’t step away completely. He continued consulting for SRA and was invited to join several public and private company boards.
In 2010, DiPentima worked with Volgenau to take SRA private for some time with Providence Equity Partners. In 2015, Computer Sciences Corp.’s public sector business, Computer Sciences Government Services, merged with SRA International to form a new, publicly traded company, CSRA. In 2018, GDIT acquired CSRA.
“I was very pleased,” DiPentima said. “A lot of people built some great careers at SRA to the extent that I helped them. That was very satisfying to me.”
David Keffer, former CFO of Northrop Grumman, worked under SRA’s CFO Steve Hughes during DiPentima’s time at the company. David Mutryn, now CFO at Maximus, also started his career at SRA under Hughes and DiPentima before moving into executive leadership. “It is so good to see people who had worked with us moving on to good careers based on the reputations that they developed at SRA,” DiPentima said.
Mutryn told WashingtonExec he’ll never forget how accessible and supportive DiPentima was, even to junior employees. “His generous nature and emphasis on building others up has greatly influenced me and so many other leaders at SRA and throughout the industry,” Mutryn said.
DiPentima spent 12 years on the board of Brocade Communications Systems, including during its acquisition by Broadcom. He also served on the boards of CapGemini Government Solutions and iNovex Information Systems, advised Sybase and Red Hat, and was a senior advisor to Providence Equity Partners and McKinsey & Co.
He currently sits on the boards of Amida Technology Solutions, Redhorse Corp. and Gunnison Consulting Group, and serves on the advisory board of Blue Delta Capital Partners.
Reputation, Impact and Legacy
While DiPentima remains active in the government contracting community, he said his greatest legacy as CEO is the lasting strength of SRA’s culture.
As Legasey would say, “all business is a matter of creating value,” and that guided DiPentima’s thinking. “If you were able to create value for your customer and value for your people, and manage the company well, you automatically created value for your company.” That’s the greatest indication of performance and success, and DiPentima said SRA lived those values daily.
Yet for those around him, DiPentima’s impact at SRA began the moment he joined. According to Legasey, the company was in its 17th year, delivering consistent revenue growth and profitable quarters. It retained all earnings with no outside ownership, and leadership prioritized hiring top talent and building a long-term workforce.
Legasey said SRA’s strategy was to hire executives with strong government experience and pair them with teams capable of delivering measurable improvements in government performance.
“Renny epitomized that model,” Legasey said. “Of course, we had no idea how FAST Renny would build on his success in government to become an exceptional leader of SRA’s business. From day one, he exhibited a deep intellectual curiosity about the ‘what, how and why’ the SRA business model worked to enable the company’s success. He learned fast; hired other great leaders; and became an engine of sustained business growth. He defined the meaning of the term, ‘great hire.’”
Mentorship is a key part of DiPentima’s legacy, shaped by his own experience being mentored throughout his career. He believes in paying it forward by supporting peers and employees at every stage of their professional journey.
At SRA, he learned from leaders like Volgenau, Legasey and Barry Landew — who served as executive vice president until his 2009 retirement. Landew, in particular, helped DiPentima learn how to clearly communicate the value SRA delivered to its customers.
“We had absolutely superb people,” DiPentima said of the entire SRA team. “I was able to recruit a good number of government people who subsequently continued to have very good careers.”
Today, DiPentima continues to mentor through his role on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Public Policy External Advisory Board. His commitment to mentorship also played a role in his receiving two Presidential Rank Awards — for Distinguished and Meritorious Service.
Despite his awards and professional success, DiPentima considers himself a family man above all. He met his wife Pat when they were teenagers, and they’ve been together since. He often turns to her for advice and speaks with pride about the life they’ve built together.
“We have a wonderful family,” he said, which includes two daughters — both lawyers — their husbands, and four teenage grandkids. “And as a family, the 10 of us do a lot of things together,” DiPentima said.
At this stage in his career, when he’s not traveling with his family, playing golf or splitting time between Fort Lauderdale and D.C., DiPentima stays busy serving on boards — and focusing on being a good mentor, grandad and husband.
“Pat keeps reminding me that I’m not retired, but I’m enjoying my retirement,” he said. “I’ll always be involved in business. That’s just my nature. I just wouldn’t feel fulfilled if I weren’t doing that.”
DiPentima will be honored June 4 with a Lifetime Achievement Award at WashingtonExec’s annual Chief Officer Awards, celebrating the career of an impactful industry executive whose contributions to the GovCon community are far-reaching.