Leo Mackay , Jr . Leo S . Mackay , Jr . ( born 1961 ) is a former deputy secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . He is Corporate Vice President , and an elected officer , of Lockheed Martin Corporation . Currently , he is Vice President - Ethics and Sustainability leading the Office of Ethics and Business Conduct as well as serving as Chief Sustainability Officer . He reports to the CEO and the Ethics and Sustainability Committee of the board of directors . He is an independent director of Cognizant Technology Solutions . From 2007 to 2011 , he was Lockheed Martin ' s Vice President , Corporate Business Development . From 2005 to 2007 , Mackay was President of ICGS , LLC – a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman . Mackay chairs the Board of Visitors at the Graduate School of Public Affairs of the University of Maryland . He is a board member , and chair of the Audit Committee , of the Center for a New American Security in Washington , DC . He is also a member of the Board of Regents of Concordia Theological Seminary . He was Chair of the Lutheran Housing Support Corporation ( 2006 - 2011 ) ; Chair of the Secretary of Health and Human Services ' Advisory Committee on Minority Health ( 2004 – 2005 ) ; and a board member of Cook ’ s Children ’ s Hospital in Fort Worth , Texas ( 1998 – 2001 ) . He was U . S . Black Engineer magazine ' s 2012 Black Engineer of the Year Awardee for Career Achievement . Government service . Mackay was Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs from May 2001 to October 2003 . As the department ' s second in command and designated chief operating officer , he had operational authority over the department ' s three major agencies : the Veterans Health Administration ( VHA ) , the nation ' s largest integrated healthcare system ; the Veterans Benefits Administration ( VBA ) ; and the National Cemetery Administration . He concentrated on departmental management initiating a Strategic Management Council , reformulating the departmental budget process , and changing the internal merit system for GS / SES personnel . He was concentrated on the CARES project , a capital asset realignment of VHA ; enhanced use leasing ; lowering the backlog of pending veterans ' claims ; achievement and maintenance of a clean audit ; the National Shrine Commitment , an effort to raise , and make standard , the condition of the national cemeteries ; and VetFran , a program for transitioning veterans to aid them in starting franchise businesses . He was also , with David Chu , a founding co - chair of the VA - DoD Joint Executive Council to increase interdepartmental collaboration and sharing . Upon his departure , then - Secretary Anthony Principi stated , " Dr . Mackay brought to VA the discipline of the business world and the compassion of a man who cares deeply for America ' s veterans . His legacy is a more - focused VA better able to meet the needs of veterans . " From 1993 - 95 , Mackay served as military assistant to then - Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy , Ashton Carter . During this time , the office was re - organized to focus on cooperative de - nuclearization , execution of the Nunn - Lugar threat reduction program , nuclear weapons policy , and counter - proliferation . The office also was the Office of the Secretary of Defense ( OSD ) lead for the Nuclear Posture Review of 1994 - 95 . Personal history . Mackay resides in northern Virginia . He was born into a military family in San Antonio , Texas and grew up on , and around , military installations . He lived in Japan as a child and spent two years of high school in Tehran , Iran . His family was evacuated in December 1978 as the Shah ' s government disintegrated . He served in the Navy as a naval aviator . He completed pilot training in 1985 , graduating at the top of his class . He spent three years in Fighter Squadron Eleven flying the F - 14 , attended Fighter Weapons School ( Topgun ) , and compiled 235 carrier landings and 1 , 000 hours in the F - 14 . He also served as an instructor at the Naval Academy in the history department . Affiliations . Mackay is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group , the Council on Foreign Relations , and the U . S . Naval Institute . He was a Research Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs , and was a Special Guest Fellow at the Brookings Institution . He is a past director of the Henry L . Stimson Center in Washington , DC . Education . Mackay was a 1983 graduate of the U . S . Naval Academy , and a recipient of the Secretary of the Navy Distinguished Midshipman Graduate Award . He holds a master ' s degree in public policy , and Ph . D . in public policy from Harvard University . He was a Kennedy Fellow , Harvard MacArthur Scholar , and Graduate Prize Fellow at Harvard . In 2005 , Mackay was awarded a Doctor of Laws , " honoris causa " from Concordia Seminary , and served as the commencement speaker for its graduation that year .