McKee replaces Gary Robinson, who has served as acting director at DIS since Steve Kolodney departed last May.
"Washington is recognized as a national leader in digital government," Locke said in a statement. "I am delighted to announce Stuart's appointment as the new director of our Department of Information Services. I was impressed by Stuart's information technology experience at both the Walt Disney Company and Microsoft. I am confident that his experience with these firms of global prominence will be a great advantage in leading Washington's expanding e-government operations."
"I am honored to serve the governor and the people of Washington in this capacity," McKee said. "I look forward to working with the governor, his staff and other state leaders tackling the many challenges in front of us. This is a fantastic opportunity to build upon a great foundation and shape the face of digital government."
McKee worked for the Walt Disney Company's Internet organization from August 1996 to October 2001. He was promoted to direct the company's global Internet operations in February 2000, and established an organization with a staff of 250 people and a $100 million budget.
His division was responsible for the hosting facilities, test labs, internal business systems, networks, database systems, systems engineering, technical operations and security for Disney and its combined Internet business units including ESPN.com, Disney.com and ABCNews.com.
Prior to working at Disney, McKee served as a senior database administrator at Microsoft and a manager of information systems at Sabey Corporation.
"I also want to thank Gary Robinson for his leadership at DIS," the governor added. "He did a great job managing the department over the past several months and I know he will be missed."
Robinson will return to the Office of Financial Management where he will continue to lead the agency's information services.
Office of Gov. Gary Locke
