Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D. was nominated by President Donald J. Trump to serve as the 11th Deputy Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 27, 2025.
As Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs (DEPSECVA), he serves as the second in command and Chief Operating Officer for the Department, directing policy and operations while ensuring coordinated action and conformance with the Secretary’s directives.
In President Trump’s first Administration, Dr Lawrence served as VA’s 7th Under Secretary for Benefits, overseeing the delivery of more than $100 billion in direct benefits to millions of Veterans and their dependents.
Prior to his time in government, Dr Lawrence was a businessman and author. He has 35 years of experience solving management problems in large, complex organizations. As a private sector executive, he was a consulting Partner at two Fortune 500 companies (IBM and Accenture). He is a government management thought leader, having written several books describing how government could be more effective and efficient. His 2021 book, “Transforming Service to Veterans: How I Pursued Performance Excellence at VBA,” describes the accomplishments during his time as Under Secretary. In 2023, to make the benefits experience easier for Veterans, he wrote the book “Veterans Benefits for You,” which is an Amazon Best Seller.
He was selected three times by Federal Computer Week as one of the top 100 public service leaders. In 2019 he was recognized as Government Executive of the Year by Service to the Citizen. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Dr Lawrence served in the U.S. Army attaining the rank of Captain. He graduated from the Army’s Airborne School and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. He earned a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Economics from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
