Ronald S. Burke Jr. is the Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Oversight. Burke ensures the effective operation and oversight for 10 business lines and program offices. These services and programs provide guidance and oversight for over 24k employees and are responsible for over $123B in benefit payments to Veterans, Service members, their family members and survivors. Burke leads the coordination of enterprise-level initiatives, projects, and procedural changes that provide Veterans and claimants access to disability compensation, pension, education, vocational readiness, employment, transition assistance, insurance and home ownership.
Prior to this appointment, he served as the Executive Director for Pension and Fiduciary Service and administration of VBA’s pension program, which, in fiscal year 2020, paid more than $4.2B to over 378k of our most financially challenged wartime Veterans or their survivors. Burke oversaw the administration of VBA’s fiduciary program, which protects our most vulnerable beneficiaries who are unable to manage their financial affairs. In fiscal year 2020, this program provided oversight of fiduciaries managing more than $3.4B for more than 162k beneficiaries.
He previously served as the Assistant DUS for Field Operations and was responsible for the effective operation and oversight of 56 regional offices and fivedistrict offices. He has served in numerous leadership positions in VBA and led key modernization efforts, such as the development and implementation of the National Work Queue and theautomated processing of eligible pension and survivor claims. Burke was a member of an accredited Veterans Service Organization for five years prior to joining VA.
Burke was born and raised in Maryland and served his country honorably in the United States Marine Corps. Married with two children and three grandchildren, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
