George Halvorson (born January 28, 1947) is a retired American healthcare executive who served as CEO of

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser P ...

. He is the Chair and CEO of the Institute for InterGroup Understanding.

Education

Halvorson holds a B.A. in history, political science and English, from

Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) Concordia College is a private college in Moorhead, Minnesota. Founded by Norwegian settlers in 1891, the school is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and practices the liberal arts. Concordia is accredited by the Higher ...

. He then took graduate study courses at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and from the

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Work

Halvorson is a long-time American healthcare executive who served as

CEO and chairman from 2002 to 2014 before retiring as CEO in 2013 and chair in January 2014. The Kaiser Permanente board of directors elected Bernard Tyson to the CEO role upon Halvorson's retirement. Halvorson was CEO of HealthPartners in Minnesota for 17 years before going to Kaiser Permanente. Halvorson is the Chair of the First 5 California Commission for children and families. Governor Brown appointed Halvorson to a four-year term as Chair. The Commission uses money raised from tobacco taxes to provide support and education to children in California from birth to five years old. Halvorson has been the Chair and CEO of the Institute for InterGroup Understanding since June 2012. The institute works on issues of racism, prejudice, discrimination and intergroup stress and conflict. Halvorson has published nine books on health care reform including ''Health Care Co-Ops in Uganda'' with the most recent being ''Ending Racial, Ethnic and Cultural Disparities in American Health Care''. Halvorson has also published four books on instinctive interactions for groups of people: ''Primal Pathways'', ''The Cusp of Chaos, ''The Art of InterGroup Peace, ''Peace in Our Time'', and one book on early childhood brain development, ''Three Key Years''. Halvorson was chair of the health governors at the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Davos, Switzerland , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

. He also chaired The International Federation of Health Plans, The Partners for Quality Care and The American Association of Health Plans. He is an emeritus board member for the International Federation of Health Plans.

Awards and recognition

In 2015 Halvorson received the IMPACT Visionary Award from

AdAge An adage (; Latin: adagium) is a memorable and usually philosophical aphorism that communicates an important truth derived from experience, custom, or both, and that many people consider true and credible because of its longeval tradition, i.e. ...

. He is a member of the Bay Area Council Business Hall of Fame. In 2015, Halvorson was inducted into the

Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame The Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame (SAHF) was established in 1984 in Minot, North Dakota, by the Norsk Høstfest Association. The Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame is "an enduring means of honoring the persons of Scandinavian descent in North ...

, held during Norsk Høstfest.

References

External links

The Institute for InterGroup Understanding
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorson, George 1947 births Living people American businesspeople Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) alumni