Steven L. Keller
Acting Chairman, Board of Veterans’ Appeals
Steven L. Keller was appointed Acting Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Feb. 23, 2011. Prior to this, Mr. Keller served as BVA Vice Chairman since Feb. 1, 2009.
Mr. Keller began his government career as a BVA staff attorney in 1982. In May 1991, he was selected as Counsel to the Chairman and, in 1995, was named Chief Counsel, the same year that President Clinton approved his appointment as a member of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Mr. Keller served as the Board’s Senior Deputy Vice Chairman from 1997 until 2008, when he was competitively selected as Principal Deputy Vice Chairman, a Senior Executive Service (SES) position.
In addition to his management and judicial responsibilities with the Board, Mr. Keller has been involved in a range of task forces and study groups focused on improvement of the VA benefits adjudication system.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Keller taught English literature and composition at Northern Illinois University and Stanford University. He also was a member of the publications staff of several newspapers and magazines in the San Francisco Bay area.
Mr. Keller received his bachelor’s degree from Long Island University in 1967, his Master of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1968, and his Juris Doctor degree from Hastings College of the Law in 1979. He is a member of the California and Washington, D.C. bars.
