Captain Mary Kolar, USN (ret)
Continuing to Serve
Captain Mary Kolar, USN (ret) is the former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veteran’s Affairs. In that capacity she served as the chief advocate for the more than 350,000 veterans of Wisconsin and their families. She was responsible for the leadership and management of the WI Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
Serving in the Navy for 28 years, Secretary Kolar was stationed across the nation, spending much of her time recruiting, training, educating and leading Sailors.
Returning to Wisconsin after retirement from the Navy, she continued to serve and represent veterans through leadership of various veteran-focused organizations. She represented downtown Madison on the Dane County Board of Supervisors and worked extensively with the Dane County Veterans Service Office to ensure that veterans and their families received needed assistance. In addition to serving 14,000 constituents in downtown Madison as a Dane County Supervisor, Secretary Kolar oversaw multiple community-based organizations and was the vice president of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Secretary Kolar holds master’s degrees in National Security and Strategic Studies (Naval War College) and Adult Education (University of Rhode Island) and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.