James R. Knickman

President and Chief Executive Officer

Ph: 212-584-7676

Knickman@NYSHealth.org

An active philanthropy executive, scholar, and community leader, James R. Knickman is the first President and Chief Executive Officer of NYSHealth. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Knickman was Vice President of Research and Evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in Princeton, New Jersey. At RWJF, Dr. Knickman was responsible for external evaluations of the national initiatives RWJF supported. Dr. Knickman and his staff took lead roles in developing research initiatives and conducting internal analyses related to RWJF’s grantmaking priorities. Throughout his 14-year tenure at RWJF, Dr. Knickman led grantmaking teams in three areas: clinical care for the chronically ill, long term care services, and population health.

Between 1976 and 1992, Dr. Knickman served on the faculty of New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where he was active in community service directed at improving health care delivery to vulnerable populations. He also served on a wide range of advisory boards and published extensive research on issues related to improving services for homeless families, frail elders, and individuals with HIV. Dr. Knickman is the co-author of a widely used textbook on health policy and management.

Dr. Knickman serves as chairman of the Robert Wood Johnson Health System in New Brunswick, New Jersey. 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. Currently, he is a member of the editorial boards of The Milbank Quarterly and Inquiry.

Dr. Knickman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University and his Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Pennsylvania.