CDC Foundation Board of Directors Names Dr. Judith Monroe as Next President and CEO
The Board of Directors of the CDC Foundation today named Judith A. Monroe, MD, FAAFP, as the new president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. Monroe joins the CDC Foundation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she leads the agency’s Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support. Monroe succeeds current CDC Foundation President and CEO Charles Stokes, who announced his plans to retire from the CDC Foundation last May. She will join the CDC Foundation on Feb. 1, 2016.
“We are incredibly pleased that Judy is joining the CDC Foundation as its new leader,” said Douglas W. Nelson, CDC Foundation board chair and retired president and CEO of The Annie E. Casey Foundation. “She has an extraordinary background, bringing a deep personal knowledge about CDC, public health and public-private partnerships to her role as leader of the CDC Foundation. We look forward to working with Judy as she implements her vision and moves the CDC Foundation forward to help CDC save and improve lives.”
Monroe has served as CDC’s deputy director for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support since she joined the agency in 2010. In this role, she oversees key activities and technical assistance that support the nation’s health departments and the public health system. Before joining CDC, Monroe served as the state health commissioner for Indiana from 2005 to 2010.
“I am very excited about this opportunity to work with the board and staff of the CDC Foundation and with partners as we all strive to help CDC do more, faster,” said Monroe. “I also thank Charlie Stokes for his outstanding efforts in starting and leading the CDC Foundation for more than 20 years. Today, public-private partnerships between the government, private and philanthropic sectors are crucial to improving health outcomes for people in America and around the globe. Together, we can do so much more than any of us can do alone.”
Monroe began her clinical career as a member of the National Health Service Corps at the Morgan County Medical Center in rural Tennessee from 1986–1990. As a clinician educator, she joined the faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at Indiana University and led the department’s work in rural communities from 1990–1992. She then joined St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis in a dual administrative role as director of the Family Medicine Residency Program and the Primary Care Center from 1992–2005.
Monroe received her medical degree from the University of Maryland and bachelor’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University. She completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Cincinnati, a rural faculty development fellowship through East Tennessee State University, and a fellowship in obstetrics through the University of Wisconsin. She also participated in the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government’s State Health Leadership Initiative.
She has served on many national advisory committees and boards, including as president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials from 2008–2009. Other areas of service include CDC’s Surveillance Leadership Board, Global Health Leadership Council, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Leadership Forum, deBeaumont Foundation-sponsored National Advisory Committee for the Practical Playbook, Medicaid-Public Health Expert Committee and the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Population Health.
Current CDC Foundation President and CEO Charles Stokes will retire on Jan. 31, 2016. “On behalf of the CDC Foundation’s board of directors, I thank Charlie for his dedication to CDC and the CDC Foundation. He has been a true visionary around forging public-private partnerships that have advanced CDC’s vital life-saving work in this country and around the world. We are all indebted to Charlie and wish him the very best in his retirement,” said Nelson.