The RWJF Health Policy Fellows Program
50 years
of Transforming Leaders
to Transform Health
The RWJF Health Policy Fellows Program
50 years
of Transforming Leaders
to Transform Health
Celebrating 50 Years of Health Policy Impact
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellows (HPF) program brings mid-career health professionals to Washington, DC for one transformational year immersed in the federal health policy process.
For the first three and a half months, fellows meet with the most influential thought leaders in health policy: national experts, think tanks, interest groups, executive branch officials, members of Congress and their staffs, and many more. Fellows then get the opportunity to put their health expertise and newfound policy knowledge to work by serving as senior advisors to elected and appointed federal government officials. At the end of the year, fellows leave with the knowledge, skills, and commitment to improving the health of the nation.
Journey through Our History and Impact
In 1974, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the RWJF announced the first cohort of RWJF Health Policy Fellows, marking the beginning of a partnership that continues to thrive over 50 years later. As of 2025, this program has transformed the lives and careers of 325 participants across 50 cohorts and promises to continue to impact the health of the nation for many years to come. This virtual exhibit chronicles and celebrates the program’s first 50 years and the achievements of its alumni and stakeholders.
Explore the history of this renowned program and the achievements of its alumni in the following pages. The exhibit is organized semi-chronologically in four main sections. The first section, Beginnings, recounts the creation of the fellowship in the 1970s. The next section, Building Cohorts, examines why people apply to the fellowship, how the fellowship forms its cohorts, and how this process has evolved over the last 50 years. The bulk of the exhibit is contained in the third section: The Fellowship Year. This section traces the experience of the fellows throughout their year-long fellowship, from orientation to working in a Congressional or Executive office to forming lifelong bonds with their cohort. The final section is dedicated to the Decades of Impact that alumni have had on the health of the nation.
Beginnings
Building Cohorts
The Fellowship Year
Decades of Impact
About this 50th Anniversary Project
Documenting 50 Years of Impact: Our Process
This virtual exhibit captures, celebrates, and memorializes the first 50 years of the RWJF Health Policy Fellows (HPF) program. It is part of the RWJF HPF 50th Anniversary History Project, which also includes a commemorative coffee table book and a research study evaluating the influence of the RWJF HPF program on its alumni and documenting its contributions to health policy at the national level.
The 50th Anniversary History Project kicked off during the RWJF HPF 50th Anniversary Alumni Retreat in October 2024. For the first five months, the program conducted interviews with alumni and stakeholders and collected archival materials related to the program. During this process, the History Project team:
- ^Conducted 67 interviews resulting in over 40 hours of raw footage
- ^Spent 3 days in the NASEM Archives researching the program’s early history
- ^Collected nearly 3,000 documents, photographs, articles, and other ephemeral related to the program
In the following months, using the interview footage and the archival materials, the History Project team traced the history and impact of the HPF program across its first 50 years. This virtual exhibit, which includes over 50 videos and hundreds of photographs and documents, is the result. The virtual exhibit premiered at the 2025 Alumni Retreat on October 17, 2025.
Thank You
This virtual exhibit would not exist without the vision, dedication, and persistence of countless people who have shaped the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program over the past fifty years. From the earliest champions who saw the value of bringing health professionals into the policy arena, to the fellows who took the leap and made their mark in Washington, to the mentors, congressional offices, agencies, and institutions that opened their doors, each has left an imprint on this history. What follows is not just our attempt to thank them, but to recognize that this program’s legacy is the sum of their collective contributions.
Thank you to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Academy of Medicine, as well as their past and present staffs who have helped create and shepherd this program. The RWJF Health Policy Fellows program would not be possible without their dedication and support.
Thank you to the RWJF HPF History Committee for championing the 50th anniversary project. Thank you for your ideas as we determined what this project would look like, thank you for your help collecting materials and reaching out to alumni and stakeholders, and thank you for your help reviewing drafts of this book and the virtual exhibit.
Thank you to all the program alumni, board members, orientation briefers, and past and present NAM staff who shared their stories, knowledge, and archival materials. We could not have created this book or the companion virtual exhibit without you.
Thank you to the RWJF HPF alumni for participating in the program and for your commitment and work to improve the health of the nation.
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