WThe Board of Veterans' Appeals is an administrative tribunal within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), located in Washington, D.C. It determines whether U.S. military veterans are entitled to claimed veterans' benefits and services. The Board's mission is to conduct hearings and decide appeals properly before the Board in a timely manner. 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 7101 (a). The Board's jurisdiction extends to all questions in matters involving a decision by the Secretary under a law that affects a provision of benefits by the Secretary to Veterans, their dependents, or their Survivors. 38 U.S.C. §§ 551(a); 7104(a). Final decision on such appeals are made by the Board based on the entire record in the proceedings and upon consideration of all evidence and applicable provisions of law and regulation. The Board's review is de novo.
WOmar Nelson Bradley was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, holding the rank of General of the Army. Bradley was the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and oversaw the U.S. military's policy-making in the Korean War.
WAlison Nenos Cernich is an American neuropsychologist specializing in traumatic brain injury and computerized neuropsychological assessment. She is the deputy director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Cernich was previously deputy director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, assistant professor of neurology at University of Maryland School of Medicine, and chief of neuropsychology at the VA Maryland Health Care System.
WJoseph Maxwell Cleland is an American politician from the state of Georgia. Cleland, a Democrat, is a disabled US Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous actions in combat, and a former United States Senator.
WLaVerne H. Council, MBA, DBA was the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and Chief Information Officer for the Office of Information and Technology within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Council assumed this role in July 2015, taking over for Deputy CIO Stephen Warren. President Obama nominated Council to the role in March 2015. Council was confirmed by the 114th Congress on June 23, 2015, making Council the first female CIO of a Cabinet-level federal agency. She managed a $4.2B Information Technology (IT) appropriation, the first centralized and only IT appropriation in the federal government.
WThe Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in the United States government, is the chief operating officer of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, responsible for a nationwide system of health care services, benefits programs, and national cemeteries for America's veterans and their dependents. The Deputy Secretary is the second-highest-ranking officer in the Department and succeeds the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the event of his resignation, death, or otherwise inability to fulfill his duties.
WEdward Joseph Derwinski was an American politician who served as the first Cabinet-level United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, serving under President George H. W. Bush from March 15, 1989 to September 26, 1992. He previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1959 to 1983, representing south and southwest suburbs of Chicago.
WWilliam J. Driver was an American administrator who served as the Administrator of Veterans Affairs from 1965 to 1969 and as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 1980 to 1981.
WLadda Tammy Duckworth is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States Senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
WJames R. Floyd was the chief executive of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation located in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Floyd won 2,964 votes constituting 62% of the votes in the 2015 general elections, which took place on November 2, 2015, to beat incumbent Chief George Tiger. On January 2, 2016 Floyd was sworn in as Muscogee (Creek) Nation principal chief by MCN Supreme Court Chief Justice Andrew Adams III during an inauguration ceremony at the Mvskoke Dome in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. His term officially began on January 4, 2016.
WCharles Robert Forbes was appointed the first Director of the Veterans' Bureau by President Warren G. Harding on August 9, 1921 and served until February 28, 1923. Caught for army desertion in 1900, he returned to the military and was a decorated World War I veteran. He first became active in politics in the Pacific Northwest. In 1912, Forbes moved to Hawaii and served as chairman on various federal commissions. While Senator Warren G. Harding was on vacation in Hawaii the two met by chance and became friends. After the 1920 U.S. Presidential election, President Harding appointed Forbes director to the newly created Veterans' Bureau, a powerful position in charge of millions of dollars in government expenditures and supplies.
WJoan A. Furey is a United States Army nurse veteran. She began her military service in 1968 when she joined the Army Nurse Corps. Her patriotism influenced her volunteered deployment to Vietnam in 1969 where she served as a second lieutenant and eventually earned the Bronze Star. Her dedicated service continued when she returned home as Furey focused on aiding other returning Vietnam veterans. Her post-war accomplishments include earning her master's degree in nursing from New York University in 1975, pioneering studies in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through her service in the Department of Veteran Affairs, and her service as the Director of Center for Women Veterans.
WColonel Will A. Gunn is an American lawyer and former officer in the American Armed Forces. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to be the new general counsel for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. He attended the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1980, and Harvard Law School, graduating in 1986. While at Harvard, he was elected President of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. In 1990 Gunn was a White House Fellow and Associate Director of Cabinet Affairs. Mr. Gunn also has a Masters of Laws degree in Environmental Law from the George Washington University School of Law and a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
WThomas W. Harker is an American government official who has served in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the United States Department of Defense. Harker was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as an Assistant Secretary of the Navy and was confirmed on December 20, 2017 and sworn in on January 2, 2018.
WFrank Thomas Hines was a United States military officer and head of the U.S. Veterans Bureau from 1923 to 1945. Hines took over as head of the Veterans Bureau after a series of scandals discredited the agency. He was considered a "man of stern honesty." In response to the scandals, the field service was "centralized to establish strict controls and accountability."
WCheryl L. Mason is an American attorney and government official who is currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals. Mason previously served as Deputy Vice Chairman, Chief Veterans Law Judge, Veterans Law Judge, and Counsel at the Board. Chairman Mason is the first woman to hold the office. In 2020, Cheryl Mason was named a PREVENTS Task Force Ambassador, along with Lead Ambassador Second Lady Karen Pence. PREVENTS is the first national public health campaign to address suicide prevention.
WLisette McSoud Mondello is an American political advisor who served as Assistant United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs from 2006 to 2009.
WRobert Lee Nabors II was the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and several other senior roles in the Obama White House.
WStephen L. Ondra is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of North Star Health Care Consulting. A neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, Ondra has also served in senior positions in the Federal government, having a role in health reform efforts and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He advises corporations, provider organizations and early-stage start-ups on the transition to value-based care and health IT strategy.
WPeter O'Rourke is an American government official. He served as the acting United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs and VA Chief of Staff under President Donald Trump. He previously worked in various positions in government consulting, including as a congressional staffer for U.S. Representative Tom Latham, and as an employee for CALIBRE Systems, and he also served as the executive director of the Republican Party of Florida.
WKaren W. Pane is the former Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to her last position she served as the Director of the Office of Performance Monitoring, Center for Program Planning and Results at the United States Department of Labor.
WPamela J. Powers is an American government official serving as the Acting United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs since April 2, 2020.
WRandy C. Reeves is a United States Air Force and United States Navy veteran and government official who currently serves as the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs. He served in the military for 27 years and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. Prior to assuming his current role, he was the executive director of the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board and president of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs.
WHarriett Rinaldo was a social worker known for creating personnel standards, rating procedures and recruitment procedures for the Veterans Administration Social Work Service. The standards and procedures she created became a model for the federal government and other social work agencies. She was the first to identify the term "clinical social work" as a specialty standard with its own personnel specifications.
WRichard Lowell Roudebush was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.
WTommy Sowers is an American entrepreneur, academic and politician. He is a decorated Military officer with an 11-year career in the Army, achieving the rank of Major. During his military career he served as an Assistant Professor at the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point. He went on to teach at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and Duke University.
WThe Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs is a senior position within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs that directs the National Cemetery Administration, which maintains 131 national cemeteries and provides burial services for veterans of the United States military and eligible family members.
WSumner Gage Whittier was an American politician who served two two-year terms as the 58th Lieutenant Governor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1957.