Trust for America's Health Board of Directors

Governor Lowell Weicker, Jr., President

The Honorable Lowell Weicker, Jr., has a political career expanding over 30 years, including three terms as a U.S. Senator and Governor of Connecticut. In the Senate, he was the Chair of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Committee.

Governor Weicker attended and graduated from Yale University (BA) and the University of Virginia (LLB), and is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees from over 20 universities and colleges. He has received many awards including the JFK Library Profiles in Courage Award, the Albert Lasker Service Award, the Hubert Humphrey Civil Rights Leadership Award, the Joseph Kennedy Foundation Award for the Disabled, and the Wayne Morse Political Integrity Award.

Gail C. Christopher, DN

Dr. Christopher is currently vice president for health at the WK Kellogg Foundation. She was previously vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Office of Health, Women and Families in Washington, D.C. She directed the Joint Center Health Policy Institute, a multi-year initiative created to engage underserved, racial, and ethnic minorities in health policy discussions. Prior to that, she was guest scholar in the Governance Studies Department at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and executive director of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition, Christopher served as director and naprapathic physician with the Naprapathic Health Centers in Chicago, Illinois. Christopher took her doctor of naprapathy degree from the Chicago National College of Naprapathy in Illinois and completed advanced study in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in holistic health and clinical nutrition at the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities at Union Graduate School of Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Christopher received a 2007 Leadership Award from the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus, for her work with Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and its impact on public policies to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities. She has authored and co-authored three books, a monthly column in the Federal Times, and has written more than 250 articles, presentations, and publications. Her list of national broadcast and print media credits is also extensive.

John W. Everets, Treasurer

Most recently John W. Everets was Chief Executive Officer of HPSC, Inc. Established in 1974, HPSC is a non-bank specialty finance company that provides leasing and healthcare equipment financing on a nationwide basis.

Prior to becoming CEO of HPSC, Mr. Everets was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of T.O. Richardson Co., Inc., an investment management company. He was also Executive Vice President and Director of Advest, Inc. from 1977 to January 1990. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Board of Billings & Co., Inc., a real estate investment banking firm, and Chairman of Advest Credit Corp., both subsidiaries of Advest Group, Inc. Mr. Everets was Vice Chairman of the Connecticut Development Authority as well as Chairman of the Loan Committee of the quasi-government agency. Mr. Everets is a director of Dairy Mart Convenience Stores, Inc., the Eastern Company, EHP Systems and Key Bank; and a member of The Presidents' Circle of the National Academy of Sciences.

David Fleming, M.D.

Dr. Fleming is director of public health for Seattle King County (WA). Prior to joining the Seattle & King County Department of Public Health, Dr. Fleming directed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Strategies program. His work at Gates focused on vaccine-preventable diseases, nutrition, maternal and child health, community-based solutions, leadership and emergency relief.

Dr. Fleming previously served at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he served from 2000 to 2003 as Deputy Director for Science and Public Health, and in 2002, as Acting Director of the agency. While at CDC, Dr. Fleming provided oversight of the agency's global health portfolio, including HIV/AIDS prevention, polio eradication, global tobacco prevention and funding for global immunizations.

Before joining CDC, Dr. Fleming worked at the Oregon Health Division as State Epidemiologist. He also has served as President of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologist and on numerous Institute of Medicine and federal advisory committees. Dr. Fleming has a BS and an MD from the State University of New York.

Arthur Garson, Jr., M.D., M.P.H.

Arthur Garson, Jr., is the Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Virginia and the Robert C. Taylor Professor of Health Science and Public Policy. He is responsible for the planning and operations of the University's 10 schools, as well as academic planning. He co-chairs the Commission on the Future of the University. In 2002, Dr. Garson was appointed Vice President and Dean of the University of Virginia's School of Medicine.

Dr. Garson graduated (Phi beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude) from Princeton University in 1970 and received his M.D. (Alpha Omega Alpha) from Duke University in 1974, remaining at Duke for Pediatric residency through 1976. In 1979, he completed his Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, becoming Chief of Pediatric Cardiology in 1988. In 1992, he received a Master's degree In Public Health from the University of Texas Houston. Also in 1992, he joined the faculty at Duke University, becoming Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, where he served as Medical Director of Government Relations for the Medical Center; and professor in the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. In 1999-2000, Dr. Garson served as President of the American College of Cardiology. He currently chairs the committees concerned with health care reform of the American College of Cardiology and the Association of American Medical Colleges. He is the author of more than 450 publications including 8 books.

Cynthia M. Harris, Ph.D, DABT, Vice President

Dr. Cynthia M. Harris is the Director of the Institute of Public Health and Professor at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. She received her Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences from Meharry Medical College with concentration in the areas of nutritional biochemistry and toxicology. Previous to her appointment at Florida A&M, Dr. Harris served as a staff toxicologist and branch chief with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a sister agency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Harris has served on numerous committees and panels, which includes membership on the Board of Directors for the Florida Public Health Association, Chair of the Florida Public Health Partnership Council on Stroke, member of the Pregnancy Mortality Review Board, member of the Florida Sickle Cell Task Force, member of the American Public Health Association, member of the editorial board of the Harvard Journal of Public Health, reviewer for the Journal of Environmental Health, and board member for the Panhandle Chapter of the Florida March of Dimes.

Robert T. Harris, M.D., Secretary

Dr. Harris brings to the Board 18 years' experience in health care administration, and 26 years' experience in clinical medicine as a primary care physician. He has served at the senior management level at several health insurance companies and managed care companies. Most recently, he was chief medical officer and senior vice president for Healthcare at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, where he launched nationally acclaimed initiatives addressing obesity/childhood obesity, smoking/second hand smoke, immunization promotion, and affordable outpatient drugs with no-copay generics. Additionally, Dr. Harris is a board-certified internist and maintained a part-time clinical practice while in his full-time administrative positions. Presently, he serves as a volunteer physician at a free clinic and engages agencies dedicated to serving the health care needs of the Latino immigrant worker population, which is growing rapidly in North Carolina.

Dr. Harris is a graduate of Duke University (B.S), Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health (M.H.S.), and Emory University School of Medicine (M.D.).

Alonzo Plough, M.A., M.P.H., Ph.D.

Dr. Alonzo Plough is Vice President of Program, Planning and Evaluation at The California Endowment. Prior to joining the Endowment, Dr. Plough was the Director and Health Officer for Seattle and King County Department of Public Health. Dr. Plough is also an Associate Professor of Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health & Community Medicine. Previously, Dr. Plough was Deputy Commissioner and Director of Public Health at the Boston Department of Health and Hospitals, a Lecturer on Health Policy and Management at Harvard University School of Public Health, and an Associate Professor in the Graduate Program in Urban and Environmental Policy.

Dr. Plough serves on the boards of the National Association of City and County Health Officials, the American Lung Association of Washington, United Way of King County, and the Washington Dental Foundation. He is the Chair of the Board of the Education Development Center, Inc., and Chair of the Advisory Committee of the King County Health Action Plan. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, National Center for Health Statistics.

Jane Silver, M.P.H

Jane Silver received her Master’s Degree in Public Health from the Yale University School of Epidemiology and Public Health, and has devoted her career to public health and public policy issues affecting poor and underserved communities.

Ms. Silver is President of The Irene Diamond Fund, a New York City-based foundation with interests in medical research relating to HIV/AIDS and immunology, human rights and the performing arts. Prior to joining the Fund, Ms. Silver served as Vice President for Public Policy at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and as Associate Director for Programs for the National Commission on AIDS. She worked for the District of Columbia Department of Public Health for more than ten years, where she established and was chief of the District of Columbia’s first AIDS office. Ms. Silver was also Senior Program Analyst and Director of the Fellows Program for the Drug Abuse Council, Inc. She has been a member of the American Public Health Association since 1979.

Ms. Silver currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, the Human Rights Watch HIV/AIDS Program Advisory Committee, DC Developing Families Center Advisory Council, and the New York Choreographic Institute Advisory Council. She previously served on the Board of Directors of Whitman-Walker Clinic and on the National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council. In 1987, she was honored with The Gene Frey Award for Public Service from the Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Theo Spencer

Theo Spencer is a senior project manager with the Natural Resources Defense Council working on global climate change issues. He earned his B.A. from Middlebury College and a Masters in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Spencer has extensive experience as a journalist, working previously as a reporter with Fortune Magazine, New York Newsday, the Albuquerque Tribune and the Stamford Advocate. He has written numerous freelance articles for national publications such as the New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine and Art Forum.

Mr. Spencer serves on the Board of Directors for the Benjamin Spencer Fund, Environmental Advocates, and as Vice President of the Rockefeller Family Fund.

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