Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, currently serves as Director, Institute for Population Health Improvement, University of California Davis, and Distinguished Professor, UCD School of Medicine and Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. Dr. Kizer is a highly seasoned health care executive and internationally respected health care thought leader who has the very rare distinction of having been elected to both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Public Administration. He is an honors graduate of Stanford University and the UCLA Schools of Medicine and Public Health; the recipient of two honorary doctorates; and is board certified in six medical specialties/subspecialties and fellow or distinguished fellow of 10 professional societies. His previous positions include: President, CEO, and Chairman, Medsphere Systems Corporation, a leading provider of open source electronic health records; founding President and CEO, National Quality Forum; Under Secretary for Health, US Department of Veterans Affairs, in which capacity he engineered what is widely regarded as the largest and most successful health care turnaround in US history; Director, California Department of Health Services; and Director, California Emergency Medical Services Authority. He served on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force; as Chairman,The California Wellness Foundation; and on the governing boards of managed care and health IT companies, foundations, professional associations and non-profit organizations. He has advised health care systems throughout the U.S. and consulted on health care and public health matters in numerous foreign countries. He is a Fellow National of the international Explorer’s Club, a founding member and past president of the international Wilderness Medical Society, and a former U.S. Navy diver and diving medical officer.He has authored over 400 original articles, book chapters and other reports in the professional literature.