Noteworthy: James was appointed to the M. Allen Pond Chair in Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. Pond served as assistant U.S. Surgeon General from 1963 to 1968 and later worked at Pitt. The award honors faculty that have made significant contribution to public health policy.

Age: 52

Residence: Fox Chapel

Family: Wife, Gretchen; daughters, Katie, 15, Charlotte, 12.

Occupation: Professor of health policy and management at Pitt; executive director of Pitt’s Health Policy Institute.

Background: James has worked at Pitt for the last 3½ years. He served as Secretary of Health under Gov. Ed Rendell and worked for the federal government as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Service Industries and Finance at the Department of Commerce.

Education: Law degree and Master of Business Administration, Illinois Institute of Technology; bachelor’s degree, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Quote: “Given Allen Pond’s distinguished service, I was very honored to receive the award. I hope we can share the findings from our research at Pitt to improve health policy in our region and the United States.”

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