Washington, D.C. -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Togo D. West, Jr. has been cited by the Black Leadership Forum, Inc., for achievement in public service. In recognition of his distinguished record of leadership, Secretary West will receive the group's Lamplighter Award for Public Service at an annual awards gala on Wed., April 28 in New York City.
Secretary West is the member of the President's Cabinet who is responsible for directing the federal government's second largest department, which includes a nationwide system of health-care services, benefits programs and national cemeteries for America's 25.1 million veterans. VA has an annual budget of more than $42 billion.
Prior to his appointment by President Clinton as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, West served as Secretary of the Army from November 1993 through May 1998 and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Commission, a binational board appointed by the President. He has served under several different Administrations in such positions as General Counsel of the Department of Defense, the General Counsel of the Navy, the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice.
Mr. West was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Field Artillery Corps upon graduation from Howard University with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1965. After completing law school in 1968, he served as a law clerk to Judge Harold R. Tyler, Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In 1969, he was called to active duty in the Army's Judge Advocate General Corp.
Secretary West has served as a member of the Vestry, Junior Warden, and Senior Warden of St. John's Church in Lafayette Square. He has been a member of the Standing Committee and the Finance Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and of the Cathedral Chapter of the Washington National Cathedral. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1942. He is married to Gail Berry West, his law school classmate, who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force from 1980 to 1981. Their daughter, Tiffany, a graduate of Yale Law School, is employed in private practice in Denver, Colorado. Their daughter, Hilary, a Connecticut College graduate, is a paralegal in a New York City law firm. The Wests reside in Washington, D.C.
Founded 21 years ago, the Black Leadership Forum, Inc., has been a leading advocate for civil rights of African Americans and other minorities. The organization has placed a special emphasis on promoting diversity in the work place, political participation, educational opportunities and entrepreneurial endeavors for minorities.
