RWJF Board Elects Daniel Dawes and Barbara Ferrer as New Trustees
PRINCETON—The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Board of Trustees announced today that it has elected two new Trustees, Daniel Dawes, JD, and Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, effective April 22, 2025.
Prof. Dawes currently serves as senior vice president of global health at Meharry Medical College and founding dean of the School of Global Health. He is a healthcare and public health leader, health policy expert, educator, author, and researcher.
Dr. Ferrer is the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. She has decades of experience as a public health director, educational leader, researcher, philanthropic strategist, and community advocate.
“I am thrilled to welcome Prof. Dawes and Dr. Ferrer to our Board of Trustees,” said Dr. Rich Besser, president and CEO of RWJF. “Their deep expertise and passion for health equity and racial justice will be essential in helping us pave the way together to a future where health is no longer a privilege for some, but a right for all.”
“Prof. Dawes and Dr. Ferrer are champions for health and racial equity, and I look forward to working with them both to transform health in our lifetime,” said Rev. Dr. Starsky D. Wilson, RWJF Board chair. “Dawes’ trailblazing work to advance health equity, and Ferrer’s deep community-based public health expertise, will help bring greater focus, strategy, and impact to the vital work ahead.”
About the New Trustees
Daniel Dawes, JD, is a healthcare and public health leader, health policy expert, educator, and researcher who serves as senior vice president of global health at Meharry Medical College and founding dean of the School of Global Health. Prof. Dawes previously served as vice president and executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.
“It is both a privilege and profound honor to be elected to the RWJF Board of Trustees and contribute to building a future where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to achieve their fullest health and wellbeing,” said Dawes. “My commitment is steadfast in advancing health equity, drawing upon both my professional expertise and lived experiences at the crossroads of policy, government, healthcare, and public health. In these challenging times, our collective focus must remain on advancing better health outcomes for every individual and community.”
He has written several books, including 150 Years of ObamaCare and The Political Determinants of Health. His passion for addressing health inequities is exemplified in his unyielding commitment to building collaboratives, including the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network and the Health Equity Leadership & Exchange Network. He also led the development of the nation’s first Health Equity Tracker.
Dawes is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and an elected fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. He has served on several boards, commissions, and councils focused on improving health outcomes and elevating health equity in the United States and around the world.
Born in Nebraska, Dawes received a JD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a BS in both business administration and psychology from Nova Southeastern University.
Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, is a nationally known public health leader with more than 30 years of experience as a public health director, educational leader, researcher, philanthropic strategist, and community advocate. Dr. Ferrer currently serves as director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
“I am deeply honored to serve on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Board of Trustees,” said Ferrer. “RWJF is a leader in advancing health equity, driving meaningful change through research, advocacy, and community partnerships. The Foundation’s commitment to dismantling racism and building a more just society is critically important, and I look forward to working with the Board of Trustees to support ongoing efforts to ensure that everyone has the resources needed for optimal health and wellbeing.”
Previously, Ferrer served as executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, where she led a range of programs and partnerships to address inequities in health outcomes and support healthy communities and families. Ferrer also served as director of health promotion and chronic disease prevention and director of the Division of Maternal and Child Health at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, as well as the chief strategy officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. As a headmaster at a district high school in Boston, she led efforts to significantly improve high school graduation rates and ensure that every graduating senior was accepted to college.
Born in Puerto Rico, Ferrer received a PhD in social welfare from Brandeis University, a Master of Arts in Public Health from Boston University, a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. To get there, we must work to dismantle structural racism and other barriers to health. Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, we work side-by-side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to achieve health equity faster and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.
