Edward C. Payton III appointed to top Veterans Administration post

JANS – On Feb. 27, 2026, Edward Charles Payton III was sworn in as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), the highest level of career leadership in the U.S. federal government. He also was appointed as Executive Director/CEO of the VA Medical Center in Memphis, TN.

Payton earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration with a management concentration from Morehouse College in 2009 and a Master of Health Sciences from the University of Mississippi in 2013. His VA career began in 2014 in Baltimore, MD.

Edward is the son of Eddie and Rica Lewis-Payton, who served as regional VA CEO (2008-12) in her hometown of Birmingham, AL. She is the first female and African American to hold this position. Eddie won numerous championships during his tenure (1986 – 2016) as head golf coach at his alma mater, Jackson State University, and was inducted into several halls of fame, including the inaugural class of the Black College Golf Coaches Hall of Fame (2022).