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About the Foundation
People
History
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Our History
Over the decades since our founding, our mission to promote health and healing has remained the same, while our focus has shifted from medical research to health professions education.
Our Founder
Kate Macy Ladd
Kate Macy Ladd established the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation in 1930 to honor the memory of her father, a well-known philanthropist who died young. Ladd intended the Foundation to devote itself to the promotion of health and the ministry of healing.
Timeline
1930 – 1945
Foundations of a Mission
Before 1945, our grantmaking focused on medical research in fields such as traumatic shock and war-related psychiatric disorders, geriatrics and aging, arteriosclerosis, genetics and human development, and psychosomatic medicine. Our extensive conference and publications program also started during this period.
1946 – 1960s
Expanding Medical Education
From the end of World War II through the mid-1960s, we shifted our focus to support the efforts of medical schools to expand and strengthen their basic science faculties. We also began supporting the emerging fields of reproductive biology, human reproduction, and family planning, and fostered their incorporation into the biological, behavioral, and social science bases of academic obstetrics and gynecology.
1970 – Present
Health Professions Education
Since the mid-1970s, the overwhelming majority of our grants have supported projects that foster innovation in health professions education.
Past Presidents
| Holly J. Humphrey, MD | 2018 – 2025 |
| George E. Thibault, MD | 2008 – 2018 |
| June E. Osborn, MD | 1996 – 2007 |
| Thomas H. Meikle, Jr., MD | 1987 – 1996 |
| James G. Hirsch, MD | 1980 – 1987 |
| John Z. Bowers, MD | 1965 – 1980 |
| Willard C. Rappleye, MD | 1941 – 1965 |
| Ludwig Kast, MD | 1930 – 1941 |
Learn More
Learn more by reading The History of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.