Newt Gingrich
Founder
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich is the founder of the Center for Health Transformation, a collaboration of leaders dedicated to the creation of a 21st Century Intelligent Health System that saves lives and saves money. He is also the founder of the Gingrich Group, a communications and consulting firm specializing in transformational change, and serves as a political analyst for FOX News Network, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C and a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
A highly sought-after public speaker and world-renowned strategist, Gingrich served as a Member of Congress for twenty years and as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995-1999. He is widely recognized as the chief architect of the Republican Contract with America and the key strategist and leader behind the 1994 Republican victory, which created the first GOP majority in Congress in forty years. Under his leadership, Congress passed welfare reform, the first balanced budget in a generation, and the first tax cuts in sixteen years. So far-reaching was his impact that The Washington Times called him “the indispensable leader,” and Time magazine, in naming him Man of the Year for 1995, said, “Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable. Newt Gingrich belongs in the category of the exceptional.”
As speaker, he disrupted the status quo by moving power out of Washington and returning it to the American people. He ushered in reforms which dramatically cut government waste, reined in IRS abuse of citizens, and ended Congress’s ability to exempt itself from laws governing the rest of America. Through new technology and systems, he gave ordinary citizens direct access to Congress, re-establishing the House of Representatives as “The People’s House.”
Widely recognized for his commitment to a better system of health for all Americans, Gingrich’s leadership helped save Medicare from bankruptcy, prompted FDA reform to help the seriously ill and initiated a new focus on research, prevention and wellness. His contributions have been so great that in 1998 the American Diabetes Association awarded him their highest non-medical award and the March of Dimes named him their 1995 Georgia Citizen of the Year. He currently focuses on health issues in the private sector as founder of the Center for Health Transformation and is a board member of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Newt also serves with former Senator Bob Kerrey as Co-Chairman of the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care. In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Board for the AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) and for the National Library of Medicine. A leading advocate of increased federal funding for basic science research, in 2001 he was the recipient of the Science Coalition's first Science Pioneer award, given to him for his outstanding contributions to educating the public about science and its benefits to society.
Most recently, for his dedication to bringing quality health care to all Americans, Gingrich received the 2005 Health Quality Award from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to improve health care quality everywhere. He has also been honored with the 2005 National Minority Health Month Foundation Award for his outstanding contributions to the elimination of diabetes, and with the 2005 HIMSS Advocacy Award for leadership in advancing information and management systems for the betterment of human health (the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society).
A strong advocate of volunteerism, Gingrich has long championed the positive impact every individual can have on society. He has raised millions of dollars for charity, donating both time and money to a wide array of causes, including Habitat for Humanity, United Cerebral Palsy, the American Cancer Society, ZooAtlanta and the Earning by Learning literacy program, which he founded. He is widely recognized for his commitment to the environment and to the advancement of a new, commonsense environmentalism. In 1998 he was named Legislative Conservationist of the Year by the Georgia Wildlife Federation.
His experiences as the son of a career soldier convinced him at an early age to dedicate his life to his country and to the protection of Freedom. Realizing the importance of understanding the past in order to protect the future, he immersed himself in the study of history, receiving his Bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a Master’s and Doctorate from Tulane University in Modern European History. Before his election to Congress, he taught History and Environmental Studies at West Georgia College for eight years. He is recognized worldwide as an expert on world history, military issues and international affairs and is a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Policy Board. Newt is the longest-serving teacher of the Joint War Fighting course for Major Generals. He also teaches officers from all five services as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor at the National Defense University. Newt serves on the Terrorism Task Force for the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an Editorial Board Member of the Johns Hopkins University journal, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, and is an Advisory Board Member of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
In 1999, Gingrich was appointed to the United States Commission on National Security/21st Century, the Hart/Rudman Commission to examine our national security challenges as far out as 2025. The Commission's report is the most profound rethinking of defense strategy since 1947. The report concluded that the number one threat to the United States was the likelihood over the next 25 years of a weapon of mass destruction -- nuclear, chemical, and/or biological being used against one or more major cities unless our defense and intelligence structures underwent a massive transformation. That report was published six months before September 11th.
Because of his work on the Commission, Newt Gingrich is credited with the idea contained in the report of a Homeland Security Agency with a Secretary to serve on the Cabinet level. President George W. Bush has since created the Department of Homeland Security.
Gingrich is the author of nine books including the bestsellers, Winning the Future, Contract with America and To Renew America, as well as Saving Lives and Saving Money, which describes the Center for Health Transformation’s 21st Century Intelligent Health System.
Mr. Gingrich resides in Virginia with his wife, Callista. The Gingrich family includes two daughters, two sons in-law, and two grandchildren.
