Two thousand two was a successful yet bittersweet year for the Foundation. On the one hand, we said goodbye and offered a deeply felt thank you to President and Chief Executive Officer Steven A. Schroeder, M.D. On the other, we looked forward with anticipation to the years ahead under the leadership of Steve's successor, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A.

In the simplest numerical terms, over the past 12 years, Steve oversaw the growth of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s assets from $2.9 billion to $8 billion, a rise in the scale of annual grantmaking from $132 million to more than $400 million, a major facility expansion, and a substantial increase in the scope of activity and corresponding number of staff. But his real and enduring contribution goes deeper than those numbers. During his tenure, Steve took the initiative to address the compelling challenge of substance abuse and focused the Foundation on fighting the battle to reduce tobacco use, especially among teens. He pushed hard to improve access to care and better the lives of those with chronic conditions, and moved the Foundation to make health the equal partner of health care, our traditional focus. He fostered strong working relationships among staff, Trustees and grantees, attracted and retained talented and deeply committed staff, and built a culture of respect and trust.

Steve’s commitment and extraordinary success put The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in a strong position and facilitated our search for a new president. We knew that the fundamentals, based on our core values and commitments—to our mission, to our grantees, to our staff were sound. As Steve has reminded us so often, “mission matters,” and our mission—to improve the health and health care of all Americans—remains our guiding star.

The Foundation’s Board is enthusiastic that Risa Lavizzo-Mourey has agreed to succeed Steve Schroeder and to begin the next phase in a rich legacy of accomplishment. Risa has a superb record in academic medicine, in her specialty of geriatrics, in government and in her most recent stint as senior vice president at RWJF. The Foundation identified Risa almost 20 years ago as an up-and-coming young leader in health care, when she was named a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. Time and experience have only burnished our confidence in her. Risa has voiced enormous respect for the work of her predecessor and for the accomplishments of the Foundation, but it is clear that she will have her own goals and directions, as she should. We look forward to working with Risa in the years ahead to build on Steve Schroeder’s exemplary record of leadership, service and achievement in fulfilling The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s enduring mission.

Robert E. Campbell
Chairman, Board of Trustees
December 2002