Past National President Dennis R. Wyant, Ed.D., also a past BVA National Field Service Director and today a member of the Florida Regional Group, was BVA’s connection to President Jimmy Carter some 46 years ago when he was appointed and confirmed by the Senate as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans Employment after numerous important responsibilities leading up to the appointed position, including Assistant to Administrator of Veterans Affairs Max Cleland more than a decade before VA was a cabinet-level department.

Dennis was sworn into office on March 26, 1979, at a special ceremony sponsored by BVA and other leading Veterans Service Organizations at the time. The BVA Bulletin of January-February-March 1979 reported attendance of more than 300 persons at Dennis’s swearing-in.

Dennis grew up in Southern Missouri and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Southwest Missouri State. While undergoing flight training in the Navy during the 1960s, he experienced an unexplained loss of sight in one eye. Although the sudden turn of events ended his career as a naval aviator, Dennis demonstrated the drive of many BVA members, launching a new career as a computer salesperson for the National Cash Register Company.

After losing his sight in the second eye, Dennis earned an MBA from Wright State University and a doctorate in Adult and Vocational Education from the University of Cincinnati. The latter degree was bestowed while Dennis was serving as BVA’s National Field Service Director from 1973-75. The title of his doctoral dissertation was “The Job Search for the Severely Visually Impaired and Totally Blinded Veterans of the Vietnam Era.”

In addition to his election as BVA National President, he served as National Vice President, National Secretary, and president of the then Maryland-DC-Virginia Regional Group. He is also a published author on articles relating to the employment of the disabled.