James R. Kimmey, M.D., M.P.H. earned his B.S. [Medical Science, 1957], M.S. [Physiology, 1959], and M.D. [1961] degrees from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and his M.P.H. [Administration, 1967] from the University of California (Berkeley). He is currently Professor Emeritus and Executive in Residence at the Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, From 2001 through 2011, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Missouri Foundation for Health, the state’s largest health foundation with assets of nearly $1 billion. Prior to joining the Foundation, Kimmey held a number of senior positions at Saint Louis University beginning in 1987, He served as Director of the University’s Center for Health Ser-vices Education and Research [1987-1991]; Founding Dean of its School of Public Health [1991-1993]; Vice President for Health Sciences and Chief Executive Officer of the Saint Louis Uni-versity Health Sciences Center [1993-1998]; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Of-ficer of the University [1998-2000]; and Director of the Institute for Urban Health Policy [2000-2001]. He was appointed Professor Emeritus of Public Health in 2001 and Executive in Resi-dence at the College for Public Health and Social Justice in 2011. He is currently Strategic Plan-ning Coordinator for the University.

Following graduation from medical school in 1961, Dr. Kimmey interned at University Hospitals of Cleveland (Ohio) and served a medical residency at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals. He joined the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service in Washington in 1963, serv-ing as the first Chief of the Federal Kidney Disease Branch, guiding federal efforts to establish the effectiveness of chronic hemodialysis as a clinical tool. After receiving his graduate degree in public health in 1967, he served as the Regional Health Director for the Public Health Service in New York City, responsible for all PHS activities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

He left the U.S.P.H.S. in 1968 to become the founding Executive Director of Community Health, Incorporated, in New York, a national planning assistance program sponsored by the American Public Health Association and the National Health Council and funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. In 1970, Dr. Kimmey became Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, a 50,000-member professional organization of public health workers. He was instrumental in the Association’s move from New York to Washington as a part of an effort to increase its visibility and public policy role.

In 1973, he returned to Wisconsin as Secretary of the Health Policy Council and Director of the Division of Health Policy and Planning, an initiative of Governor Patrick J. Lucey designed to bring more rational structure to health activities both in state government and the private sector. In 1976, Dr. Kimmey established the Midwest Center for Health Planning, a non-profit technical assistance and educational organization based in Madison. Later renamed the Institute for Health Planning, the organization held technical assistance contracts from the federal government cover-ing 23 states, providing a variety of support for local and state health planning agencies estab-lished under P.L. 89-749. He guided the development of the Institute through 1987, when he joined Saint Louis University.

Dr. Kimmey has held many leadership positions in non-profit and professional organizations throughout his career. Among these were President of the World Federation of Public Health As-sociations, President of the American Health Planning Association, Chair of the Accrediting Commission on Health Services Administration, Chair of the Community Health Planning Sec-tion of APHA, Chair of the Task Force on Accreditation for the Health Professions, Commis-sioner of the federal Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, Chair of St. Louis Connect-Care, a safety net provider, President of the Metropolitan St. Louis Hospital Council, President of the St. Louis Chapter of the Missouri Public Health Association, Chair of the Gateway Center for Giving and member of the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Health Inequities and Dis-parities.. In 2005, he was elected to the Board of Grantmakers in Health, the national association for foundations working in the health area and served as Chairman of the Board in 2009-2010. He is a Director of Families USA in Washington, DC, and a Director of Casa di Salud, a St. Lou-is free clinic.

Among the awards and honors he has received are the Public Health Service Commendation Medal, 1968; the Richard H. Schlesinger Award for Achievement in Health Planning (APHA/AHPA), 1978; Alpha Sigma Nu, Saint Louis University, 1993; Missouri Health Commu-nicator of the Year, 1994, Missouri Hospital Association; James R. Kimmey Award for Excel-lence in Health Planning, APHA, 1994; and the Archbishop John May Award for Health Leader-ship from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, 2002. In 2005, he was profiled as a “St. Louis Character” in the St. Louis Business Journal and as a community leader in St. Louis Business magazine. The Business Journal also named him as one of nineteen St. Louis “Power Brokers” in its 25th Anni-versary Issue.

In 2010, he received the Community Service Award from St. Louis Children’s Hospital; was honored by CORO St. Louis with its Community Leadership Award; and was recognized as a Health Literacy Hero with the Leonard and Cecelia Doak Award by Health Literacy Missouri. In 2011, he received the Doorways Lifetime Achievement Award; the Kathy Curtis Legacy Award from Missouri Community Mental Health Centers; the St. Louis Urban League Award of Merit; the James R. Kimmey Lifetime Achievement Award from the Missouri Health Advocacy Alli-ance; and the Magis Medal, from Alpha Sigma Nu. His contributions to public health and health policy were recognized in 2011 with the endowment of the James R. Kimmey MD MPH Chair in Public Health at the SLU school of Public Health. In 2013, Dr. Kimmey was recipient of the Ter-rance Keenan Award for leadership in health philanthropy from Grantmakers in Health.

Dr. Kimmey has many interests. He collects antique cameras, pursues genealogy and recently completed restoring his bright red 1960 MGA sports car.


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