Drew Altman

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  Drew Altman is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation. It develops and runs its own research, communications and journalism programs, often in partnership with outside organizations. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. One of the nation’s largest private foundations devoted to health, the Foundation is a trusted independent voice and source of research and information on health care in the United States, with a growing role in global health. The Foundation is based in Menlo Park, California, and also operates major facilities in Washington, D.C., including its Barbara Jordan Conference Center and broadcast studio.

  In late 1990, Dr. Altman came to the Foundation and directed a complete overhaul of its mission and operating style, leading to the Foundation’s standing today as a leader in health policy, communications and journalism. Dr. Altman is a former Commissioner of the Department of Human Services for the state of New Jersey under Governor Tom Kean (1986-1989). Prior to joining the Foundation in 1990, Dr. Altman was Director of the Health and Human Services program at the Pew Charitable Trusts, Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 1981 to 1986, and served in a senior position in the Health Care Financing Administration in the Carter administration. Dr. Altman received his BA from Brandeis University and Masters in political science from Brown University. He earned his Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, did his post-doctoral work at the Harvard School of Public Health, and taught at MIT before moving on to public service. Dr. Altman is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Council on Foreign Relations, and the Institute of Medicine, and serves on the governing Council of the Institute. He is an innovator in the world of foundations and a leading expert on national health policy who publishes and speaks widely on health issues.