Gail R. Wilensky

Senior Fellow and Director, Project HOPE

Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D is a senior fellow and serves as director of Project HOPE, an international health organization. She is also a nonresident fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center. She co-chairs the Bipartisan Policy Center’s initiative on the future of health care. Dr. Wilensky directed the Medicare and Medicaid programs and served in the White House as a senior adviser on health and welfare programs to President George H.W. Bush. She was also the first chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Her expertise is on strategies to reform healthcare, Medicare and military health care,

Dr. Wilensky currently serves as a trustee of the Combined Benefit Funds of the United Mine Workers and the National Opinion Research Center. She serves on the board of the Geisinger Health System Foundation, the National Alliance of Hispanic Health and other nonprofits and is a director for Quest Diagnostics and ViewRay. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and served two terms on its governing Council. She has received several honorary degrees and was awarded the 2019 Adam Yarmolinsky medal by the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Wilensky is slowly beginning the process of retiring but continues to write columns for medical journals and serve on various corporate and nonprofit boards. She enjoys playing tennis and reading and is a strong proponent of a liberal arts education. She especially loves being gramma to her five grandchildren.