MENLO PARK, Calif., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kaiser Family Foundation announced today that Sheila P. Burke has been appointed chair of the Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Burke is the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the Smithsonian Institution. She served as Chief of Staff to former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole from 1986 to 1996, and also as Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Finance. Burke -- who worked as a nurse early in her career -- is currently on the adjunct faculty of the Georgetown University School of Nursing. Prior to joining the Smithsonian in 2000, she was Executive Dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and is currently a fellow of the Wiener Center and lecturer at Harvard. She is involved in a number of health policy organizations, serving as a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and the Institute of Medicine.
"The Kaiser Family Foundation plays a special role as a trusted source of non-partisan analysis and information about our increasingly complex health care system," said Burke. "I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues on the board, the Foundation's CEO Drew Altman, and our talented staff as we work to better inform policymakers, the media, and the public about health care."
"Sheila Burke is exceptionally well-qualified to chair our Board, and our Trustees and staff are all enthusiastic about her serving as chair," said Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman. "She has served on the Board for five years and chaired our Trustee Selection Committee. She is committed to the Foundation's mission and she knows our organization, the issues we work on, and the world we operate in."
Burke -- who joined the Foundation's board in 2000 -- succeeds Gerald Rosberg, Vice President for Business Development at The Washington Post, who is leaving the board after serving the maximum of two four-year terms.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health care issues to policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. More information about the Foundation and its Trustees is available online at www.kff.org/about.
Kaiser Family FoundationCONTACT: Larry Levitt of Kaiser Family Foundation, +1-650-854-9400
Web site: http://www.kff.org/
