Andrew Bender appointed director of operations at Chez Veterans Center
Andrew Bender has been hired as Director of Operations at Chez Veterans Center, effective July 1.
Bender, who served in the U.S. Army and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, comes to Chez from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Career Center, where he has been serving as the associate director for operations and strategic initiatives. Prior to coming to Illinois, Bender worked as a workforce development manager for the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, and an operations manager and learning and development manager for Amazon.
"I am humbled and deeply honored that AHS has given me the privilege to join the Chez Veterans Center team,” Bender said. “I embrace the opportunity to continue my service supporting the men and women who have given so much to our nation. I cannot wait to come on board and work with the fantastic AHS and Chez team to create a better place for our veterans and military-affiliated students.”
Bender steps into the role that has been served for the past four years by Dr. Reggie Alston, the associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Applied Health Sciences.
Bender also served as the chair of and professor in the Department of Military Science at Illinois State University’s ROTC program. In his time in the U.S. Army, Bender served in a variety of administrative roles, most recently as the Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander of the Joint Communications Unit at Fort Bragg, N.C.