The Century Foundation announced today that nationally recognized health care expert Heather Howard is joining its Board of Trustees. Howard currently serves as the co-director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing’s Global Health Program and the director of State Health and Value Strategies, both housed at Princeton University. She also holds a professor of practice appointment at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Howard served as New Jersey’s commissioner of health and senior services from 2008 to 2010, overseeing a cabinet-level agency with a budget of $3.5 billion. She was responsible for public health services, regulation of health care institutions, senior services, and health care policy and research.

“I am thrilled to welcome Heather Howard to our Board and to work with her on some of the most pressing issues facing our country today,” said Bradley Abelow, president of the TCF Board of Trustees. “Heather’s remarkable achievements in New Jersey and as a national health care leader have helped ensure wider access to patient care in the nation’s most vulnerable communities. I look forward to collaborating with her to continue that work at TCF.”

“The Century Foundation is at the cutting edge of efforts to expand health care access and further health equity in this country and I am excited to join that effort,” said Heather Howard. “It’s an honor to be a part of the growing team at TCF and I look forward to working with Brad, my fellow Trustees, TCF President Mark Zuckerman, and the entire TCF team.”

“Heather Howard is one of the nation’s foremost experts on Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act and has worked on solving some of the country’s most complex health care problems at every level of policymaking,” said Mark Zuckerman, TCF president and former deputy director of President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council. “I am delighted that she is bringing her knowledge and insights to The Century Foundation to help us get closer to our shared goal of ensuring every person in the U.S. has access to quality, affordable health care.”

Howard has a long, distinguished career in public service at the state and federal level, including for Jon Corzine where she served as chief policy counsel while he was governor of New Jersey and chief of staff while he was a senator. She has served extensively in the executive branch including, as associate director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and senior policy advisor for First Lady Hillary Clinton, as an honors attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division Health Care Task Force, and for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Howard’s courses at Princeton focus on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, state and local health policy, public health and politics, and the social determinants of health. She received her JD cum laude from the New York University School of Law and her BA cum laude from Duke University.