Karen Hein, MD is Immediate Past President of the William T. Grant Foundation (1998-2003). Dr. Hein was the Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences) from December 30, 1994 to June 30, 1998. She is Professor of Epidemiology and Pop'n Health and (Clinical) Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. From l993-l994 she worked on health care reform as a member of the Senate Finance Committee staff in Washington, D.C., drafting legislation related to health benefits, workforce, and financing medical education and academic health centers. She currently serves on 9 non-profit boards as part of her humanitarian work, focusing on Asia and Africa.
Dr. Hein graduated from the University of Wisconsin (l966), attended Dartmouth Medical School (l966-l968) and received her medical degree from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in l970. She was one of the founding members of the Dartmouth Medical School Board of Overseers (1973-1978).
During the past 30 years, Dr. Hein has assumed a variety of roles related to health and health policy through her activities in program development, teaching and clinical research. She directed a model program for health care of juvenile detainees. In l987, she founded the nation's first adolescent HIV/AIDS program. She worked closely with the Board of Education to expand AIDS education to the million students in the New York City public school system. She has written over l50 articles, chapters and abstracts related to adolescent health, particularly focusing on high risk youth. Her book, AIDS: Trading Fears for Facts, has sold over 100,000 volumes.
As President of the William T. Grant Foundation, she has shaped the current focus of the Foundation's efforts to "help create a society that values young people and enables them to reach their full potential." With assets of $250 million, the Foundation pursues this goal by investing in research and in people and projects that use evidence-based approaches. Under her leadership, the Foundation has celebrated the appointment of the 100th W.T. Grant Scholar in 2002 and instituted the W.T. Grant Prize for collaboration among scholars and practitioners in 2003.
Dr. Hein has served as advisor to many city, state, federal and international organizations. She was President of the Society for Adolescent Medicine in l992. She has been a recipient of several awards including an Assistant Secretary for Health Award (DHHS) in l989, Health Care Financing Administrator's Award (HCFA) in l993 and Stewart B. McKinney Foundation in l994 for leadership in the HIV epidemic; 2nd Century Award from CU Nursing School 2005.
In the fall of 2003, Dr. Hein shifted her activities to promote global peace through volunteer work in international health and youth development, focusing currently on Asia and Africa. In 2004-06, she participated in post-tsunami relief work in India designing health assessments in Child Centered Spaces, as well as visiting and evaluating projects in East & Central Africa (Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda), Southern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique), and Burmese & African refugee camps in '06 . She is currently a Board member of 9 national and international organizations, including The National Board of Medical Examiners, RAND Health Advisory Board, Consumers Union, CCF, Child Fund Int'l, and The Int'l Rescue Committee Overseers.
Dartmouth College: 1956-60
Union Theological Seminary: 1960-64
New York University: 1964-66, Coordinator of Religious and Civil Rights Activities
New York Foundation: 1966-68
Rockefeller Family Philanthropic Office: 1968-1988
Tabor-Wahman, Ltd. 1983-2003, Consultant
Quotes:
“Wahman- you were always a man of few words, so I was glad to see you have come out of you shell and put some of what you did for the Civil Rights Movement on paper. I was not fully aware of how you and Bob Scrivner took what you learned in the South and broadened it to other parts of the country. And I see your international work also included the poor as a central focus, whether you were defining conservation strategies, creating environmental programs or trying to change the lending practices of the World Bank.”
“When I took over, in the midst of a general financial crisis bordering on bankruptcy, every ACLU program was a candidate for cuts, especially those that depended on restricted foundation grants, as did the Voting Rights Project of the SRO. Without your steadfast support via RBF, that project which at the time was responsible for nearly all Section 5 VRA litigation outside Mississippi where Frank Parker worked would have collapsed. I cannot tell you how many times in those early years I lauded your critical role in the ACLU Foundation Board.”
“Moreover, that meeting hosted by Dodds at Ford had all the potential for cutthroat and dysfunctional competition—with every relevant civil rights organization trying to support its own budget in a room with every significant civil rights funding source. Instead, due largely to the way the meeting was planned and organized by you and the others; it became for me the main example I used over the years to illustrate what could be accomplished by putting aside narrow competitive interests and pulling together against a common adversary.”
“I can vouch fro the fact that you were instrumental in helping Latino groups in our struggle for funding.”
“The initial support provided by RDF, and more importantly, the faith and moral support you personally provided during the initial years of Alternative Energy Development, Inc. were and remain an important part of my motivation.”
“I have another comment about the bio. I feel it understates your astonishing ability to be an “agent of change” in making institutions behave differently, in the pursuit of a strategic objective. That role is hidden between the lines, so to speak. One example of which I am aware: You single-handedly made it possible for the “Biomass Users Network” to be created.”
