Richard E. Besser, MD, is president and chief executive officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a position he assumed in April 2017. RWJF is dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and committed to paving the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right. In his role, Besser is a leading voice on the importance of healthy and equitable community conditions, the need for economic inclusion for the well-being of families, accountable public health and healthcare systems, and for dismantling one of the biggest barriers to health in America, structural racism.
Before joining the Foundation, Besser served for eight years as chief health and medical editor for ABC News, and as a leader at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he worked for 13 years. He served as acting director of the CDC during the initial response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic. Besser is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and serves on the Board of Trustees of Howard University. He is a champion of disability inclusion in philanthropy.
Besser received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Williams College and medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a residency and chief residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. He practiced as a volunteer pediatrician at several community clinics across the nation for more than 30 years.
