Dr. Shah becomes the fourth President of the Rockefeller Foundation to be inducted
NEW YORK | September 9, 2022 — Today, Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Leadership, Politics and Communication for his dedication to Public Policy and Public Affairs.
“I am deeply honored to join the Academy and belong to a tradition that upholds the power of ideas,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation. “When crises upend our way of life, when obstacles seem too great to overcome, the Academy upholds the principle that ideas can change the world and come from people from all walks of life and from all ordinary and unusual places. extraordinary.”
Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and others committed to the “advancement of the public good,” the Academy’s recent members represent a diverse group of people working to solve the world’s most pressing challenges and contributing to ” the common good” from every field. , discipline and profession.
Dr. Shah joins Mr. Raymond Fosdick (1944), Mr. Peter Goldmark (1993) and Sir Gordon Conway (2000) to become the fourth sitting President of The Rockefeller Foundation to be inducted, with four others inducted into the Academy. who would later serve as its president: Mr. Chester Barnard (1939) – before he was the President of the RF, Dr. J. George Harrar (1952), Dr. John H. Knowles (1965), Dr. Sterling Wortman (1976), and Dr. Judith Rodin (1990).
Under the leadership of Dr. Shah, the Foundation is committed to making the fight against climate change central to all its work, including its operations and investments, on top of committing more than $1 billion to catalyze a more inclusive global green recovery from Covid. -19 pandemics. This marked the single largest commitment in the 109-year history of the Foundation, which has distributed more than $22 billion since its inception.
This new chapter is consistent with a long history of taking decisive and timely actions that have changed the course of events. During its first 40 years, the Foundation pioneered the modern field of public health, played a key role in combating the 1918 flu and needleworm pandemics in the United States, and seeded the development of the Yellow Fever vaccine. During the next chapter, she started the Green Revolution that transformed agriculture and kept hundreds of millions from starvation. All this was done while also investing in the innovations that built telescopes and cyclotrons and bringing together the best in their fields to solve the world’s most pressing problems, along with changing the course of philanthropy with “impact investing” in 2007 .
In addition to his work at the Foundation, Dr. Shah has a long history of dedicated public service. Earlier in his career, Dr. Shah worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he created the International Immunization Fund, which helped reshape the global vaccine industry and save millions of lives. From 2010-2015, Dr. Shah served as Administrator of USAID, shaping the agency’s $20 billion operations in more than 70 countries, securing bipartisan support for the Global Food Security Act and the Africa Electrification Act. He also led the US response to the Haiti earthquake and Ebola pandemic, served as a member of the National Security Council, and elevated the role of development as part of our nation’s foreign policy.
This year’s ceremony, held in Cambridge, Mass., recognized the achievements of fellows elected in 2020 and 2021, in addition to 2022, which was delayed due to the pandemic. One of the 252 new members in the 2021 election, 55% of whom are women, Dr. Shah joins leaders such as:
- Paleontology Zeresenay Alemeseged, University of Chicago
- Economist Dirk Bergemann, Yale University
- Cognitive anthropologist Pascal Boyer, Washington University in St
- Biotech leader Tony Coles, Cerevel Therapeutics
- Lawyer and civil rights scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, Columbia Law School; UCLA School of Law
- Neurosurgeon and medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, CNN; Emory University
- Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, Texas Supreme Court
- Labor Leader Mary Kay Henry, SEIU
- Reporter Maria Hinojosa, Futuro Media Group and NPR
- Cinematographer and video artist Arthur Jafa
- Computer scientist Fei-Fei Li, Stanford University
- Civil rights activist and math literacy pioneer Robert Moses, The Algebra Project
- Playwright, screenwriter and actor Suzan-Lori Parks, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
- Probability theorist Kavita Ramanan, Brown University
- Composer, Composer and Performer Robbie Robertson
- Reporter Kara Swisher, VOX Media Inc.; New York Times
- Atmospheric scientist Anne Thompson, NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
- Media entrepreneur and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, Harpo, Inc.; The Oprah Winfrey Network
A list of all Academy members can be found here: https://www.amacad.org/directory.
About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology and innovation that enable individuals, families and communities to thrive. We work to promote the well-being of humanity and make opportunity universal and sustainable. Our focus is on scaling renewable energy for all, stimulating economic mobility and ensuring equitable access to health care and nutritious food. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn.
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