It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Dr. Donald Kennedy on April 21, 2020. Dr. Kennedy, a beloved mentor, continuously served on our Advisory Board since our founding in 2002.

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Don Kennedy’s work and vision during his 12 year presidency of Stanford University defined its tremendously successful trajectory in the late 20th and early 21st century. As editor-in-chief of Science, he offered passionate and clear-headed views on the intersection of science and society. To us at GivingWorks, he gifted us wise and thoughtful counsel and support at every step along our journey. He was a brilliant biologist, a serious environmentalist, a committed public servant, a devoted teacher, and above all, a gracious, generous and humorous friend. I first met Don in the mid-1980s as a student at Stanford, and he immediately took me under his wings. He enthusiastically supported every community service venture I launched from then on, and even hosted a benefit concert at his home featuring the legendary Stan Getz. It is an irony that a man who spent his professional life advocating for science-informed health policy would be felled by Covid-19, a pandemic whose spread in the United States could have been significantly averted had science been allowed to guide our national response from the outset.

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Please read more about Dr. Kennedy's life of service here.