Edward “Ted” Diaz - a retired U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman and former Federal Department of Veterans Affairs senior staffer – serves as the Cabinet Secretary for the West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance.
Diaz enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1987. Over the next twenty years, his duty assignments included assignments aboard ship with U.S. Marine Corps units and a special duty assignment to the Navy Surgeon General’s staff. While serving, he received several awards and commendations, including the Navy & Marine Corps Medal for Heroism for actions in support of the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, during that country’s Civil War.
In 2007, Diaz retired from active-duty service. Over the next four years, he served in several civil service positions in the National Capital Region, including as an Ombudsman with the Army Medical Command at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He joined the federal VA team in 2011 to assist with developing patient tracking applications and programs, including the national Case Management Tool and the Interagency Care and Coordination Committee for the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record at the Enterprise Program Management Office.
In 2016, Diaz joined the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, where he provided analysis and recommendations for programs with intergovernmental implications, developing key relationships and working closely with federal, state, local, and international government agencies as they relate to Veterans Affairs.
Before his appointment, Diaz spent ten years in various positions within the federal VA. His final position was Staff Assistant in the Office of Secretary - Mission Operations in the VA Central Office in Washington, D.C. In this role, he traveled to many communities nationwide to coordinate, advise, and facilitate dialogue between the federal VA and local government leaders.
Diaz was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia – the son of Doctor Salvador and Eleanor (Cline) Diaz. He is a graduate of Marshall University.