Phoenixville resident Lawrence Davidson is the new Chester County director of veterans’ affairs.

Davidson was formerly a United States Army engineer and a section sergeant at Fort Knox, Ky.  In announcing the appointment, Commissioner Kathi Cozzone said Davidson’s impressive work background also included handling social programs for veterans.

“I am working to understand the challenges facing veterans and I’m proud to be in a position to serve the veterans of Chester County as well as their families,” Davidson said.

Most recently, Davidson was the Veteran Center coordinator at West Chester University Veterans Center.  He was also the co-creator and graduate director of WCU’s Soldiers to Scholars program.

Davidson founded WCU’s Student Veterans Group in 2011 and was the group’s president.  He was also a social work intern for the LZ II Transitional Housing facility in Coatesville and the Veteran Justice Outreach program of the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center.

“Chester County veterans will have an excellent advocate in Lawrence Davidson,” said Ryan Costello, chairman of the board of commissioners. “The commissioners are looking forward to working with him and providing deserved services to our veterans.”

“Lawrence has a long association with Chester County and West Chester University,” said Commissioner Terence Farrell. “His military experience also includes being a team leader in the Republic of South Korea where he guided engineer units from the army and navy of the Republic of South Korea.”

In his new job, Davidson leads a department that assists veterans, their spouses and dependents in obtaining benefits, programs and entitlements, including the county’s Veterans Court program and Veterans ID business discount program.  The department also maintains the state-required county graves registration record and distributes flags and grave markers for Memorial Day remembrances.