James R. Knickman is the first President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth), a private foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers. Under Dr. Knickman’s leadership, NYSHealth has invested nearly $70 million since 2006 in initiatives to improve health care and the public health system in New York State. Today, the Foundation focuses its efforts in three priority areas: reducing the number of New Yorkers without health insurance coverage; improving prevention and management of diabetes; and integrating mental health and substance use services for people who cope with both issues at the same time.
Immediately prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Knickman was the Vice President of Research and Evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. Between 1976 and 1992, he served on the faculty of New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service; earlier, he worked at the New York City Office of Management and Budget.
Dr. Knickman serves as a board member the Robert Wood Johnson Health System in New Brunswick, NJ; the Center for Effective Philanthropy in Cambridge, Mass.; the National Council on Aging in Washington, D.C.; and Philanthropy New York, in New York City. He is a past chair of the New Jersey Department of Health’s Cardiac Health Advisory Council, a past board member of AcademyHealth in Washington, D.C., and a past board member of the New York Catholic Health Care System.
