VA History Office

Mike Visconage serves as the History Program Director and Chief Historian for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He joined VA in July 2019 and was charged with establishing a VA History Office and advancing the development of the National VA History Center as a central location for historical VA artifacts and archival materials. Mike served in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, including deployments to Iraq as a military field historian and Command Historian for Multi-National Forces. Before joining VA, he worked in a variety of private industry positions, implementing new programs and change-management initiatives. Mike was also an organizer and Co-Director of the Texas World War I Centennial Commemoration from 2015-19.

Katie Delacenserie serves as Historian for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), preserving and promoting the stories of the people, places, events, and innovations surrounding the largest integrated health care system in the United States by interpreting VHA’s impact on the lives of fellow Americans, veterans, and the world at-large. Prior to joining VA, Katie held positions with the Naval History and Heritage Command and the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. A native of Wisconsin Katie holds a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire with an emphasis on Public History. She received her masters degree with a specialization in Archival Administration from the University of Maryland and she plays an active role in several professional organizations. In 2019, she was named a Fulbright Specialist.

Dr. Jeffrey J. Seiken joined the Veterans Benefits Administration in 2020 as the agency’s first-ever historian. He previously served as the Deputy Director of History at U.S Strategic Command. He also spent nine years as a historian for the U.S. Air Force and another three years at the U.S. Army Center of Military History. In 2010, he received the Air Force's Civilian Exemplary Service Award for his work while deployed to southern Afghanistan. Seiken holds a doctorate in history from the Ohio State University and has published numerous essays, encyclopedia articles, and books reviews on American naval and military history. He has also been awarded research fellowships from Naval History and Heritage Command and the International Center for Jefferson Studies.

Sara Amy Leach joined the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) as its first professional Historian in February 2001, and she developed VA’s first interdisciplinary History Program. The office is responsible for primary research to support Veteran burial benefits, administrative and oral history, cultural resource documentation, and the NCA History Collection. Prior to joining VA, she worked for 13 years at the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. This included Chief of Interpretation & Visitor Services/Cultural Resources Manager at the Natchez Trace Parkway, MS, and Project Historian with the Historic American Buildings Survey, Washington, D.C. She has written for and edited commercial, academic, and government publications. Leach earned a Master of Arts in Architectural History and Certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia; and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Richard A. Hulver earned his doctorate from West Virginia University. He currently works in the National Cemetery Administration’s (NCA) History Office. Prior to joining NCA, he worked for the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). He has also worked with United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), and the U.S. Army Chief-of-Staff’s 2003–2011 Iraq War Study Group. At NHHC Richard worked extensively researching the loss of the WWII cruiser USS Indianapolis. His research helped teams discover the wreckage ofthe ship in August 2017. He authored & edited a documentary history edition covering the loss of the ship entitled A Grave Misfortune: The USS Indianapolis Tragedy. In 2020, he served as lead author on an NCA publication America’s World War II Burial Program.

Kurt Senn serves as the inaugural Curator, leading collections management activities within the Department of Veterans Affairs History Office. In this role, he is responsible for developing collections management standards, practices, and interpretation and exhibits for the VA History Program and the National VA History Center (NVAHC). The NVAHC is under development and will be located on the Dayton VA Medical Center Campus. He comes to VA from the National Archives and Records Administration, having served as the Deputy Director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library since May 2010. He brings 22 years of experience leading museums and historic sites. Mr. Senn holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of Central Missouri.

Robyn K. Rodgers serves as the inaugural Senior Archivist, leading archival activities within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) History Office. In this role, Ms. Rodgers is responsible for developing archival standards, practices, and operations for the VA History Program and the National VA History Center, to be established on the VA Medical Center Campus in Dayton, Ohio. Ms. Rodgers comes to VA from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), having served as Chief Archivist. Previous posts include National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), holding a variety of positions in Research Services in Anchorage, Alaska, San Bruno, Calif. and College Park, Md. offices, as well as in Agency Services, focusing on Department of Defense appraisal including Capstone and other electronic records. She has extensive experience in senior leadership, policy development, programmatic creation and strategic rehabilitation, as well as the intersection of records management and archives. She graduated with honors from Virginia State University holding bachelor’s degree in American history, as well as a master’s degree in Information and Library Sciences with a concentration in Archival Management from San Jose State University.

Jennifer M. Perunko, Historian at the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in October 2006. In her nearly fifteen years with NCA, she has overseen projects to restore 150 of the oldest monuments in the NCA cemeteries and introduce interpretive signage as part of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. She has also conducted extensive research on Confederate burials in NCA cemeteries, and the history of the Mount Moriah Naval Plot (Philadelphia, PA), which VA took over in 1977, after the U.S. Naval Home in the city closed. On a daily basis, Jennifer supports the NCA field responding to historical inquires on burials and headstones, and providing documentation on the built environment of the cemeteries. She previously worked at the National Park Service as a Maritime Historian and Preservation Specialist with the Maritime Heritage Program, Park History Program, Cultural Resources Directorate, Washington D.C. While there she worked as part on an intergovernmental team to develop a program to transfer ownership of the nation’s historic lighthouses to new stewards for preservation and use. She has an M.A. in Historic Preservation from Goucher College, and B.A. in Anthropology and French from James Madison University. 

Tom Blackburn serves as the webmaster and communications specialist for the VA History Office and National VA History Center. He manages the day-to-day activities of the VA History page (https://www.va.gov/history), leads the editorial and integration process for content management and advices on communication and marketing strategy. At the same time, he serves part-time in the Indiana National Guard as the Deputy G6 for an infantry division. Previously he worked with the VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System as the public affairs officer from 2017-2021, the Wyoming National Guard as the deputy public affairs officer from 2013-2017 and served seven years in the active-duty Army. He has deployed twice overseas, to Mosul, Iraq from 2007-2009 with the 3d ACR “Brave Rifles” as a tank platoon leader and to Kuwait from 2019-2020 with the 38^th Infantry Division. When not working, you can find Tom and his family at the nearest Indycar race, and during the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.