LEONARD D. SCHAEFFER DIRECTOR’S CHAIR
A New Chair and a USC Honorary Degree
In February, Dana Goldman was formally recognized as the inaugural Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair at USC. Under Goldman’s direction, the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics has become one of the country’s premier health policy research centers. Policymakers and industry leaders alike look to the Center’s research for insight and guidance on pressing issues. Influential in both academic and policy circles, Goldman has authored more than 100 articles and book chapters, is a health policy advisor to the Congressional Budget Office and a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research, the nation’s leading economic research organization. As an appointee to the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, he has served on several panels, including current work examining the fiscal future of the U.S. Goldman persistently seeks the right questions to ask and the right research projects to answer them. With his leadership, the Schaeffer Center promises to continue to pursue evidence-based, independent research to inform health care policy. At the May commencement ceremonies, Leonard D. Schaeffer was awarded an honorary degree by USC. This distinction came in recognition of his role as one of the nation’s most transformative health care executives in both the public and private sectors. Schaeffer oversaw the reorganization of the Health Care Financing Administration which integrated Medicare and Medicaid under one 48 LEONARD D. SCHAEFFER DIRECTOR’S CHAIR | HEALTHPOLICY.USC.EDU
ABOVE LEFT: Dean Jack Knott of the Price School of Public Policy, Leonard Schaeffer, Dana Goldman, and former Dean of the USC School of Pharmacy Pete Vanderveen. ABOVE RIGHT: Provost Michael Quick, Leonard Schaeffer, USC President C.L. Max Nikias
roof in the 1970s. Then, in the private sector, he led the turnaround of Blue Cross of California, increasing its value from $11 million to $49 billion and created WellPoint, one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies. As part of this process, WellPoint gave more than $6 billion to charitable foundations dedicated to improving health care in California. Through innovation, scholarly work, and philanthropic contributions, Schaeffer has committed to advancing health policy research. The USC center that bears his name shares his passion for challenging assumptions, advancing policy, and reshaping the future of health care.