A History of Investing in Health Leaders

Throughout his life, Archie Bush invested in the ambitions of people with extraordinary potential. In both his personal philanthropy and as the first President of the Bush Foundation, he showed a particular interest in supporting people pursuing medical careers.  

Since the original Bush Fellowship was established in 1964, we have continued to invest in medical professionals. For a time, we had a specific program dedicated to leaders in medicine, called the Bush Medical Fellowship. 

Today, we can see the impact of those investments in just this small sample of the many past and current Bush Fellows working in health care:

Mark Mishek (BF’85) led the merger of Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center and is CEO of the combined organization. 

Dennis Stevens (BF’91) is a leader in the field of neonatology and the treatment of infants and young children with disabilities as the Medical Director of the Boekelheide Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Sanford Health.

Patricia Walker (BF’95) is a global expert on tropical medicine as a University of Minnesota Professor and the Director of the HealthPartners Travel and Tropical Medicine Center. 

Wilhelmina Tolbert Holder (BF’97) works to support the licensure of foreign-trained medical professionals in the 
United States as the Executive Director of the Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE), Inc.

Jon Pryor (BF’04) drives innovation in hospital practice as CEO of the Hennepin County Medical Center.

Jon Hallberg (BF’06) educates Minnesotans across the state on medical issues as a radio expert and the Medical Director of the University of Minnesota Mill City Clinic.

Jennifer Almanza (BF’15) works to transform maternity health practices as a Registered Nurse.

Yuri Rafael Nakasato (BF’16) a doctor at Sanford Health in Fargo, works to understand how medical systems can change to better support patients.