 | Linda Schwartz is pictured in Woolsey Hall next to the list of Yale students and alumni who served in Vietnam. A long-time advocate for veterans, the School of Nursing researcher is the first woman to serve as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veterans' Affairs. |
Linda Spoonster Schwartz, a research scientist at the Yale School of Nursing (YSN) working on the "Vietnam Nurses Health Study," has been appointed the next commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Schwartz is the first woman and the first nurse in Connecticut's 139 years of service to veterans to be named as head of this program. She is also only the second woman in U.S. history to direct a state department of veterans' affairs.
"I am honored to have this opportunity to serve the state of Connecticut," said Schwartz. "I think my 37 years of nursing and my experiences as a disabled veteran and as a veterans' advocate are strengths that will enable me to address the needs of Connecticut's 300,000 veterans."
Schwartz has a long history of involvement in nursing and veteran organizations. She was president of both the Connecticut Nurses Association and the Connecticut Nurses Foundation. In 1987 she was elected to the board of directors of the American Nurses Association. She was also the treasurer and director of legislative affairs of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project.
Connecticut Governor John Rowland said: "Dr. Schwartz brings a new perspective to the Department of Veterans' Affairs. She understands health care issues as someone who has practiced nursing in the military and the private sector. She knows and understands how we can better coordinate services for veterans using both state and federal resources. I am delighted that someone with such dedication and experience is joining the strong team already in place in our veterans department."
Schwartz has been a trustee of the Connecticut Department of Veterans' Affairs since 1989. She was a member of the VA Advisory Committee on Readjustment of Combat Veterans (1990-1997), chair of the VA Women Veterans' Advisory Committee (1997-2000) and Advisory Committee on Care of Seriously Mentally Ill Veterans (1994-2003). She was the New England regional director and a member of the board of directors of Vietnam Veterans of America 1989-1995.
Schwartz is one of the founders and a former president of the Vietnam Veterans' Assistance Fund (1990-1996), a charitable organization certified by the Combined Federal Campaign, which focuses on the needs of the nation's 9.2 million Vietnam Era Veterans. From 1992 to 1999, she served in a volunteer capacity, as the co-director of Project Partnership, a program in which the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation acquired and developed four homes for homeless and disabled veterans in conjunction with the West Haven VA Medical Center.
In 1987, she was honored as one of the "Outstanding Women in Connecticut" for her work on behalf of women veterans. In 1992, she was the first woman to receive the National Commendation Medal for "Justice, Integrity and Meaningful Achievement" from Vietnam Veterans of America. She was also the first woman veteran to earn the prestigious State of Connecticut Veterans' Commendation Medal (1995). She was recently honored by the Chapel of the Four Chaplains Foundation with the "Humanitarian 2000 Award" in recognition for her service to all people regardless of race or faith. She was also honored by the nursing profession and elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2000.
Schwartz began her new duties as commissioner on May 16 and will continue her research at the School of Nursing.
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