Meet Commissioner Vassar

Esther Vassar

Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed Esther H. Vassar Board chair of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) beginning in March 2006. Governor Warner appointed Vassar to the Board in 2002. Her reappointment by Governor Kaine makes her the first woman ever to serve consecutive terms on the Board.

Vassar is a graduate of Howard University, University of Virginia, Harvard University Executive Program for State Officials, Virginia Executive Institute and Leadership Metro Richmond. She is a three-time gubernatorial appointee, including her current reappointment to the ABC Board. She served under Governor Wilder as Director of the Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise. Vassar is the 2004 recipient of the Oliver W. Hill Freedom Fighter Award from the Virginia NAACP.

Vassar resides in both Richmond and Newport News and has two grown children, son Banyon and daughter Brenan. She also has two grandsons, Isaiah and Noah Vassar.