Obituary of Constance K. McLindon

On Saturday, July 16, 2016, Constance Kelly McLindon died at her home in Reston, Virginia. Ms. McLindon was a native of Washington, D.C., a graduate of the Academy of the Holy Cross High School and received a BA in American Thought and Civilization from the George Washington University and a Master’s Degree in Math and Sciences from the American University. Ms. McLindon retired in 2007 as Vice President of the Corporation of National Research Initiatives (CNRI). Notably Ms. McLindon led the effort to deploy the CNRI Handle System, now recognized as a key technology in electronic publishing, digital libraries and online rights management. Prior to CNRI, Ms. McLindon was the Director of Information Technology and Resource Management at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1992-1996. She served as the Agency’s Chief Information Officer and senior administrator, responsible for all policy and implementation functions associated with information and communication systems, networking and human resource management. Ms. McLindon initiated several collaborative information technology research and experimental projects in NSF’s business practices. Under her direction, FastLane, an experimental information technology program was initiated. Ms. McLindon was selected for the prestigious National Information Infrastructure (NII) award for innovative federal systems. Prior positions at NSF include Director, Office of Information Systems and Director, Division of Information Systems. At the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the early 1970’s through 1980, Ms. McLindon held several positions culminating in her role as Director of Management Information Systems that afforded her the opportunity to participate in ARPANET-based efforts that enabled dissimilar systems to communicate, an early forerunner of Internet-based applications. Ms. McLindon was the recipient of the highest federal executive honor, The Presidential Distinguished Executive Award, in both 1989 and 1996 for her efforts in implementing innovative information technology systems. She was the first NSF senior executive to receive this recognition twice. Ms. McLindon was also awarded the NSF Distinguished Service Award in 1996. Survivors include her two children and their spouses R. Mark McLindon and his wife, Simone, Great Falls Va., Kelly McLindon Liberty and her husband Matt, McLean, Va.; and six beloved grandchildren, Mark McLindon Jr., Jack McLindon, Drew McLindon, Luke McLindon, Ava Liberty and Grace Liberty. Family will receive friends on Thursday, July 28th, from 5pm to 8pm at Adams-Green Funeral Home, 721 Elden Street, Herndon, Va. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Friday, July 29 at noon at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 1020 Springvale Road, Great Falls, Va. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation online at http://www.jdrf.org/