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Addressing Health Policy Challenges

Issues Expert, Ohio Wesleyan Alumnus David C. Colby to Speak April 4 on Campus

DELAWARE, Ohio –David C. Colby, Ph.D., a retired vice president of policy at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a noted health services and policy researcher, will discuss “Health Policy: Addressing the Challenges We Face” at 4:10 p.m. April 4 at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Colby, a 1967 Ohio Wesleyan graduate, will speak in Benes Rooms A and B of the university’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. His free presentation represents Ohio Wesleyan’s 2018 Benjamin F. Marsh Lecture Series on Public Affairs.

Most recently, Colby co-edited the 2015 book “Medicare and Medicaid at 50: America’s Entitlement Programs in the Age of Affordable Care.” Donald Berwick, a former Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, called the book “a ‘must read’ for policymakers and private citizens alike.”

During his career, Colby also co-edited six volumes of “To Improve Health and Health Care” and published research on Medicare and Medicaid, AIDS, and civil rights. In addition, he served as an associate editor of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law from 1995 to 2002.

Colby spent 17 years working at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest public health philanthropy, in roles including vice president for research and evaluation. Prior to that, he worked in government at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the Physician Payment Review Commission and was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance for his contributions to that field.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan, Colby went on to earn his master’s degree in government from Ohio University and his doctorate in political science from the University of Illinois.

Ohio Wesleyan’s Marsh Lecture series, begun in 2001, is coordinated by Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Politics and Government and the Arneson Institute for Practical Politics and Public Affairs. During his lifetime, Marsh, a 1950 OWU graduate and attorney, held numerous political posts at local, state, and national levels, and served as registration supervisor and adjudicator for the U.S. Department of State to the Organization and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and as an election supervisor in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Learn more at www.owu.edu/politics.

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Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 90 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through Ohio Wesleyan’s signature OWU Connection program, students integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives” and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.