With the appointments of Zoe Dunning, Ed Campbell, and Robin Umberg, the California Veterans Board has added three new members in 2019. Dunning and Campbell were appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Jerry Brown appointed Umberg in December 2018. She was sworn in on January 2.
The seven-member board hears appeals by veterans who were denied services, including for a home loan, student waiver, or admission into one of CalVet’s eight veterans homes.
Zoe Dunning joined the board on August 2. A retired commander in the U.S. Naval Supply Corps, the 56-year-old was on active duty from 1985 until 1991. After leaving the military, she worked as a manager for the Deloitte Consulting and A.T. Kearney firms. She then worked in operations leadership positions at Webvan and Chestnut Company before serving as a change management consultant with various firms.
She currently serves on the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the San Francisco Library Commission, and is on the advisory board for the nonprofit Vets in Tech. Dunning holds a Master of Business Administration in strategy and operations from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Ed Campbell, American Institute of Architects Emeritus, has designed projects nationwide during his illustrious career. A native of Santa Barbara, he joined the Naval Reserve at 17, then enlisted in the Air Force at 19, serving in drafting or logistics duties at Travis Air Force Base, in the Azores, and at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force base. He was an architect at USA Architects and Engineers from 1974 to 2014.
Campbell, 80, helped found a home for girls in Connecticut. He also helped create the Ventura Music Festival, where he is a resident at the Veterans Home of California-Ventura. It is one of the eight veterans homes owned by CalVet. His list of professional honors includes a citation from the president of the American Institute of Architects for his work in response to the collapse of high-rise buildings in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1987.
Robin Umberg brings the experience of her 36-year Army career to the board. She commanded the 6253rd and 4211th Army Hospitals and deployed twice overseas. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Northern Colorado. She was appointed by President Clinton to the West Point Board of Visitors in 2005 – the same year she was promoted to Brigadier General – and ended her military career as the Chief, Professional Services, for the 3rd Medical Command at Ft. Gillem, GA. She focused on battlefield readiness for the more than 27,000 medical personnel. Umberg was inducted into the Order of Military Medical Merit in 2006 and she retired from the Army in 2010.
A year later, Governor Brown appointed her deputy secretary for Veteran Homes at CalVet, and later upgraded her position to undersecretary. She left two years later to beat a battle with cancer. Umberg serves on the Public Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, and is a member of the Veterans Alliance of Orange County. She and her husband, retired Army colonel and current State Senator Tom Umberg, live in Orange County.
Campbell, Dunning, and Umberg join Board Chair Hugh E. Crooks, Jr., who was appointed in 2014; Charlene Taylor, appointed in 2012; Todd Trotter, appointed in 2015; and John Busterud, appointed in 2017.
Contact the California Veterans Board at CalVetBoard@calvet.ca.gov
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