Stuart F. Feldman

Stuart Franklin Feldman (January 20, 1937 – July 11, 2010) was an American lobbyist and social activist who worked in the administrations of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. He co-founded in 1978 what became Vietnam Veterans of America together with Bobby Muller. Feldman was a longtime advocate for greater awareness of the needs of veterans and seeing to it that they were provided with better education, health care and job opportunities.

Feldman was born on January 20, 1937, in Philadelphia and attended Cheltenham High School. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1958 from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in economics. He was awarded his law degree in 1961 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He went to Washington, D.C., where he was employed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Department of Transportation. He left the federal government in the 1970s, taking a post as a lobbyist with the United States Conference of Mayors.

Seeing veterans returning from the Vietnam War, Feldman saw many that were unemployed and didn't have the skills necessary for work. Feldman lobbied on behalf of a threefold expansion in education benefits available to each veteran under the G.I. Bill, increasing the monthly benefit from $100 a month to $300. His efforts led to the development of 1,000 veterans' counseling centers at colleges nationwide, with cash awards paid to those colleges and universities that enrolled veterans and assisted them in gaining employment. Together with Bob Hope, Feldman formed "Hope for Education" in 1970, an effort that led to 50,000 soldiers enrolling for G.I. benefits while attending the entertainer's Christmas tour. Feldman helped found Vietnam Veterans of America in 1978, together with Bobby Muller, a veteran who had been paralyzed during his service in Vietnam.

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