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Rob Jensen |
A Systems Engineering Natural
Rob Jensen
May 2006
When Rob Jensen joined MITRE, he was fresh out of the Marines,
where he earned a master's degree in computer systems—and
a world away from where he began his undergraduate studies. "I
have a BA in psychology with a minor in philosophy and religion,"
explains Jensen. "It was a big shift. The Marines sent me to
graduate school early so I could take two years' worth of college
calculus in a few months."
Despite his liberal arts background, Jensen's inherent systems
engineering talents emerged in the Marines. "I was in logistics,
and several of us who had our own home computers started developing
small systems to help keep track of things like ammunition and requests
for meals in the field," he says. "As I saw the benefits
of applying systems engineering to a logistics environment, I became
interested in how much more I could do, so I applied to the graduate
program within the Marine Corps in 1987."
Jensen brings the same initiative to his work in MITRE's Center
for Enterprise Modernization (CEM), which provides strategic, technical,
and program management advice to large-scale, long-term modernization
programs for the Internal Revenue Service and other civil government
customers. As Deputy Director for CEM's Healthcare Mission Area,
Jensen oversees work for the Department of Health and Human Services
and the Department of Veterans Affairs. His teams' areas of responsibility
include enterprise engineering, strategic planning and business
process redesign, healthcare informatics, organizational change
management, acquisition and procurement, and oversight of large
enterprise systems. Jensen is quick to point out, "It's not
about me or my oversight. It's really about the whole team. The
success we've had with our clients comes from dedicated leaders,
excellent technical staff, and superb support from our business
operations partners. It's truly my privilege just to be a part of
it."
While Jensen's graduate degree is much more relevant to his current
work, he acknowledges drawing on his earlier studies. "I do
pull from those resources," he says. "Psychology, philosophy,
and religion give me a broader view of the individual and the world
and help me understand and more effectively apply some of the management
tools we use."
In 1994, Jensen joined MITRE at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois
as an engineer working on a system to track military personnel being
treated for battle injuries. When MITRE spun off its health-related
and other non-defense operations to Mitretek Systems in 1996, he
migrated to the other company, working there for several years before
returning to MITRE in 2003. Now based in McLean, Virginia, he is
one of the 13 percent of current MITRE employees who have returned
to the company after working somewhere else.
"A lot of people leave their jobs and never look back. It
wasn't that way at all for me," Jensen reflects. "What
drew me back was the breadth and depth of the company's involvement
with the government and the talent MITRE brings to the table. Being
able to reach into MITRE's expert resources and bring those assets
to bear on a client's problem makes it much easier to help solve
the most difficult challenges."
Going the Distance for MS
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Rob Jensen bicycling
for charity |
Jensen's work centers on health care systems, but it was a friend's
medical crisis that inspired him to begin devoting his free time
to raising money for health-related causes.
"In 1990 I learned that one of my closest friends had multiple
sclerosis [MS] and was not expected to live for more than a couple
of years. Shortly after I learned this, I bought a bicycle,"
he says. Jensen completed his first 150-mile MS Bike Tour that year.
Today Jensen continues to ride for MS, as well as choosing several
other long-distance rides for worthy causes each year. "It's
something I enjoy, it clears my mind, and it's good for me as well
as good for the community," he says. And, despite the initial
prognosis, the friend who inspired Jensen to become a long-distance
bike rider is doing well.
While Jensen has been riding for charity for 15 years, he continues
to be inspired by the community-oriented nature of MITRE employees.
"As a manager, it would be improper for me to ask people for
donations when I ride," he says. "Inevitably, folks see
a poster in my office when I'm getting ready for a ride, and they
will just come in and volunteer to donate. As a result of that generosity,
last year I was one of the top fundraisers for the D.C. area MS
150. With the exception of my family—whom I hit up fairly
regularly—and some friends who are not MITRE employees, it
was completely unsolicited MITRE folks who decided that if I was
willing to ride, they were willing to give."
—by Rachael Morgan
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