You are using an outdated browser. Some of the rich features of this site is not going to function on this browser. Consider updading your browser or using a newer browser.
Reports, articles, and other resources
NEW YORK, NY—Zoë Baird, noted lawyer and business executive, has been named President of the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, a New York-based philanthropic organization, it was announced today by the Foundation's board of directors. Ms. Baird assumes the Markle Foundation's presidency in January 1998, succeeding Lloyd Morrisett. "We are delighted that Zoë Baird is taking over as President of the Foundation," Markle Chairman Lewis W. Bernard said. "Her diverse background in government, business, public policy and academia, combined with her well-known abilities as a strategic thinker, make her uniquely qualified for this post. Under her leadership, we look forward to the future with great confidence." Mr. Bernard continued: "Lloyd has been an extraordinary leader of the Markle Foundation for the past 28 years, more than a third of the Foundation's life. He has been a visionary and innovative grant-maker, a steward of the public interest and a superb colleague and mentor." Ms. Baird, who has held prominent positions in the public and private sectors over the last 20 years, commented: "This is a tremendously exciting time to assume responsibility for Markle's work. The Foundation's areas of concentration—communications, the media, and the political process—are vitally important. I am very enthusiastic about the opportunity to build on Markle's past excellence as we race ahead in the information age." Ms. Baird, 44, is currently Senior Visiting Scholar and Senior Research Associate at the Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut. Until late 1996, Ms. Baird was Senior Vice President and General Counsel to the Hartford-based Aetna, Inc., where for six years she was responsible for all legal and regulatory affairs and a member of the Chairman's management group. Ms. Baird became nationally known when President William J. Clinton nominated her as the Attorney General of the United States following his election in 1992. In 1993, President Clinton named her to the prestigious President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, on which she still serves. Ms. Baird was the founder and is currently Chairman of Lawyers for Children America, a nonprofit organization concerned with the impact of violence on children, and serves on a number of corporate and public boards. Ms. Baird was previously Counselor & Staff Executive at the General Electric Company, and also has been a partner in the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers. She served as Associate Counsel to President Jimmy Carter in his White House and was attorney/advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley's Boalt Law School, Ms. Baird was a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Albert Wollenberg in San Francisco. Ms. Baird has written a number of articles on law and public policy, and lectures widely. She is presently researching and writing a book on governmental and business strategies for dealing with global crime issues and new technologies. She is married to Paul Gewirtz, the Potter Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale Law School. They have two children. Regarding the Markle Foundation, Ms. Baird added: "Markle has multifaceted contributions to make—as a center for developing public policy, as a grant-making institution to promote and support important private initiatives, and as a creative investor in new communications and information technologies. Markle's challenges have never been greater - seeking to increase the promise and reduce the risks that these developments pose for personal, social and political life, both in the United States and globally." Current Markle President Lloyd Morrisett initiated the Foundation's program in communications and information technology in 1969. He is renowned for helping found the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) which he continues to chair—producers of such critically acclaimed educational programming as Sesame Street. He has also served as Chairman of RAND. Morrisett is currently overseeing the Markle Foundation's initiative to study and explore the potential of universal electronic communications in our society. Another principal activity is the "Media in Transition" project, a collaboration between the Foundation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, bringing together scholars, engineers, journalists, corporate leaders, and policymakers to address the political and cultural significance of emerging communications media. Founded in 1927, the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, Inc. was established "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge...and the general good of mankind. "Within this broad charter, the Foundation is currently concentrating in communications and the political process, interactive communications technology, and communications policy. Markle Foundation works to improve health and national security through the use of information and technology. Markle collaborates with innovators and thought leaders from the public and private sectors whose expertise lies in the areas of information technology, privacy, civil liberties, health, and national security. Learn more about Markle at www.markle.org.
NEW YORK, NY—The Markle Foundation today announces the launch of the Markle Special Collection of public policy research documents at the PolicyArchive, a project of the Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) and Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. The Markle Special Collection focuses on the ways in which information technology shapes policymaking, particularly in the fields of health, national security, interactive media for children, Internet governance, and global development. PolicyArchive.org, a leading digital library of public policy research, showcases influential policy research from a variety of non-profit foundations. The Markle Special Collection highlights Markle’s most significant publications, including reports and papers that have been instrumental in the creation of laws that seek to protect the civil liberties of all Americans, strengthen national security policies and practices, improve health outcomes, and transform the health care system through information sharing and innovations in technology. These vital documents are now available in a forum that brings them together with other research collections that address the broader spectrum of policymaking for an array of public interest needs.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (PR Newswire)–PolicyArchive.org, the leading digital library of public policy research developed by the Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) and IUPUI University Library, launches a new online portal of research documents sponsored by the Markle Foundation in New York. The Markle Special Collection focuses on the ways in which information technology shapes policymaking, particularly in the fields of health, national security, interactive media for children, Internet governance and global development. “PolicyArchive offers a unique opportunity for us to share our insights and the results of our work in the true spirit of collaboration,” says Stefaan Verhulst, chief of research at the Markle Foundation. “We believe the Markle Special Collection will be of particular value to those interested in finding new ways of addressing critical public needs in the information age.” The Markle collection is one the first of PolicyArchive’s upcoming series of research collections that gather and showcase influential policy research from nonprofit foundations. The Markle Special Collection highlights Markle's most significant publications, including reports and papers that have been instrumental in creating current laws and policies. These vital documents are now available in a forum that brings them together with other collections that address the broader spectrum of policymaking for an array of public interest needs.
Princeton, N.J.—The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today kicked off a landmark program to design and test bold ideas for how consumers can use information technology to better manage their health and navigate the health care system. Project HealthDesign: Rethinking the Power and Potential of Personal Health Records, a $4.1 million initiative, has selected eight multidisciplinary teams that will build new tools that advance the field of personal health record (PHR) systems. Grant teams will work collaboratively to design and test a suite of PHR applications that can be built upon a common platform to help people better meet their health care needs in an integrated fashion. Such PHR tools may remind a patient to take medications, provide tailored decision prompts to help people adhere to treatment regimens for diabetes or pain therapy, or transmit data to providers—such as blood pressure readings or exercise levels—that are collected from patient self-testing and biomonitoring devices in the home. "It's not just the wider use of personal health records or online access to the data they store that is so revolutionary," said Stephen Downs, S.M., RWJF senior program officer and deputy director of the Health Group. "Project HealthDesign is challenging the PHR field to focus on the potential for patients, providers and caregivers to use this information to improve their health. The design of the systems over which this information flows is critical, and that is why we’re excited to support the efforts of these technology pioneers to develop the next generation of PHR systems."
New York, NY– "Connecting for Health applauds Secretary Leavitt for moving the nation much closer to the day when patients and medical professionals will be able to exchange potentially lifesaving health information in a secure and private manner. By selecting Connecting for Health’s three community electronic health information exchange to serve as a prototype for the nation, the Secretary has acknowledged the major contribution made to health information technology by the hundreds of organizations involved in Connecting for Health. With the support of the federal government, Connecting for Health will help deliver what the American people want -- a fully connected health care system in the 21st century." - Carol Diamond, M.D., Managing Director, Markle Foundation; Chair, Connecting for Health Background Michael O. Leavitt, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced the award of a contract today to the Connecting for Health team to make its three-community health information exchange a prototype for nationwide health information exchange. The Secretary also awarded 3 other related contracts today to develop the nationwide electronic exchange of health information.
