14 Facts About Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Risa J Lavizzo-Mourey was born on September 25,1954 and is an American medical doctor and executive who served as president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 2003 to 2017.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey was the first woman and the first African-American to head the foundation, which has an endowment of about $8 billion and distributes more than $400 million a year.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey has been named one of the 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes several times, and one of The Grio's History Makers in the Making.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2016.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey is master and former regent of the American College of Physicians, where she chaired its committees on ethics and human rights.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey served in the United States Department of Health and Human Services as deputy administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey was a member of the White House Task Force on Health Care Reform and served as a consultant to the White House on issues of health policy.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey has served on several federal advisory committees, including the Task Force on Aging Research, the Office of Technology Assessment Panel on Preventive Services for Medicare Beneficiaries, the Institute of Medicine's Panel on Disease and Disability Prevention Among Older Adults, and the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey joined an impressive list of council members following an executive order by President Barack Obama for the installment of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition to take on the childhood obesity epidemic.

In 2014, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey was appointed a member of the Smithsonian's board of regents.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey served on the President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey recently completed service as co-vice chair of a congressionally requested Institute of Medicine study on racial disparities in health care.

In January 2018, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey joined the University of Pennsylvania as the institution's nineteenth Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey is married to Robert Lavizzo-Mourey and has two adult children.