Edward Angus "Ned" Powell Jr. (born April 1, 1948) is a former president of the

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

(USO), a volunteer organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

worldwide. A native of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, he was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

and confirmed to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Financial Management, and was then promoted to Acting Deputy Secretary for the

Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers and ...

, or VA.US Department of Veterans Affairs
Ned Powell Named Acting VA Deputy Secretary
. 2000-08-09. Accessed 2008-08-21. "President Clinton has appointed Edward A. (Ned) Powell Jr. as the Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)." While at the VA, Powell was charged with managing 220,000 employees with an annual budget of $48 billion. Under his leadership, the VA received its first-ever clean audit opinion. As a result, he received the VA's Exceptional Service Award and was named Distinguished Federal Executive (for 2000) by the

Association of Government Accountants The Association of Government Accountants (AGA) is a professional organization for government financial management professionals. Its activities include work in government financial management across sectors and worldwide, working to increase gov ...

. Powell's career began as a Navy Yeoman serving with the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and th ...

. His broad executive experience includes the ownership and management of several successful business ventures, and he is a former adjunct professor of Business Ethics and Policy at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

School of Business. He passed the Series 7, Securities Broker's Exam, and held a Virginia real estate broker's license. He was active in the Young President's Organization, the World President's Organization, and currently participates in L3 (an offshoot organization of WPO). After serving at VA, Powell became the CEO of World Headquarters of the USO and served in this role between 2002 and 2009. As a result of his service, Powell was awarded The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service; The Distinguished Public Service Award, Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff; The Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service; Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service, Department of the Army; Secretary of the Army Public Service Award; Distinguished Public Service Award, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England; and the Distinguished Public Service Award, Secretary of the Navy Don Winter. In 2020 Powell was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by Washington & Lee University. Powell received his BA in Economics from

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexing ...

, and later went on to obtain his MBA from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

in 1978, using his

GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

benefits.

References

External links

* (July 2000) 1948 births Living people Politicians from Richmond, Virginia Analysts of the Defense Intelligence Agency Washington and Lee University alumni UNC Kenan–Flagler Business School alumni United States Deputy Secretaries of Veterans Affairs Clinton administration personnel {{Virginia-politician-stub