4 days after taking office on October 5, 2002, Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker appointed the Chicago native to his Cabinet as acting DCED Secretary.
Prior to this appointment, McNulty was Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge's chief of staff for technology initiatives.
In this capacity, McNulty was responsible for guiding implementation of Governor Ridge's strategic technology initiatives.
Mark Schweiker assumed office as Governor of Pennsylvania, when Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge suddenly resigned his office in aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to become Homeland Security Advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush.
On Mark Schweiker's last full day of office as governor, that is on January 20, 2003, McNulty left government service to return to Carnegie Mellon University to act as the special assistant to its provost for strategic technology initiatives.