Cabinet Secretary 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. His duty assignments over the next twenty years 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. He served in several civil service positions in the National Capitol Region over the next four years, 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 the development of patient tracking applications and programs, including the federal 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.
Prior to 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 around the country 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