Ruth Katz

Ruth J. Katz is executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program, which brings together groups of thought leaders, decision-makers, and the informed public to confront US health challenges and pursue practical solutions to them. In addition, she also serves as a vice president of the Aspen Institute and leads Aspen Ideas: Health, the three-day opening event of the renowned Aspen Ideas Festival.

Before joining the Aspen Institute, Katz served on the professional staff of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the US House of Representatives as chief public health counsel. She has also been Walter G. Ross Professor of Health Policy of the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, dean of that school, and associate dean for administration at Yale University School of Medicine. Katz has also served on the board of directors of the CDC Foundation and NARAL Pro-Choice America and has been a trustee of Emory University.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she earned a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University and a law degree from Emory University.