Appointees bring expertise spanning medical technology, investment strategy and drug development.
Joe Kiani
Throughout a highly successful career, entrepreneur and medical technology leader Joe Kiani has helped transform patient monitoring and safety efforts. He’s the founder and executive chair of Willow Laboratories, a company advancing noninvasive approaches to diabetes and metabolic health management. He’s also the founder and former chair and CEO of the global medical technology company Masimo.
Kiani’s entrepreneurial portfolio includes the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, which he founded to help eliminate preventable patient harm and death. He’s the co-founder of Like Minded Media Ventures; the co-founder, chair and CEO of its technology arm, Like Minded Labs; and the founder of Kiani Preserve Ranch LLC in California. Additionally, he launched the initiatives CitizeX and A Starting Point to promote civic engagement and make political issues more accessible.
In recognition of his achievements, Kiani has received numerous accolades, including Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year: Life Sciences Award, the Hubert H. Humphrey “Dawn of Life” Award from the Newborn Foundation and the Society of Critical Care Medicine Innovation Award. He holds more than 600 patents associated with patient monitoring technologies, and his Masimo W1 Medical Watch was named one of the Best Inventions of 2024 by TIME.
Kiani served a three-year term on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and now serves on the boards of leading institutions such as Rady Children’s Hospital, The Carter Center, and the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.
An active philanthropist, Kiani, along with his wife, Sarah, has supported the Barack Obama Foundation, Code.org, Human Options Inc., the Pacific Symphony, the Tahirih Justice Center, the United States Fund for UNICEF, and the WHO Foundation.
Kiani earned both his BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from San Diego State University and holds honorary doctorates from his alma mater and Chapman University.
Steven M. Paul
Steven M. Paul possesses decades of leadership experience across academia, industry and venture creation. Currently a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, Paul formerly served as founding director of the Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College. He also devoted nearly two decades each to the National Institute of Mental Health, where he was scientific director, and to pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company, where he was executive vice president for Science and Technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories.
As an entrepreneur, Paul founded Seaport Therapeutics and co-founded Rapport Therapeutics. He remains board chair of both companies, which develop treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders. He’s also a venture partner at Third Rock Ventures, a firm that supports emerging biopharmaceutical companies.
Paul is board chair of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), and The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund. His past service includes board positions with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The many honors he has received during his career include the Distinguished Service Medal of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the Chief Scientific Officer of the Year award (an Annual Pharmaceutical Achievement Award), and the Tulane Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s also been elected to the National Academy of Medicine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A committed advocate for science education, Paul has made significant philanthropic contributions, including a gift to establish the Steven and Jann Paul Hall for Science and Engineering at Tulane University, and to create the FNIH Paul-Gallin Trailblazer Prize for Physician-Scientists.
Paul earned his MD, MS degrees in Anatomy and Neuroanatomy, and BA degrees in Biology and Psychology from Tulane University.
Douglas W. Phillips
Douglas W. Phillips recently retired as senior vice president and chief investment officer at the University of Rochester, where he oversaw the institution’s pension and investment funds totaling more than $12 billion in combined assets. Under his leadership, the university’s investment portfolio consistently outperformed market benchmarks, reflecting a long-term approach to stewardship through changing economic conditions.
During his 25-year tenure at the university, Phillips guided both the advancement and communications offices, and laid the groundwork for the Meliora Challenge: the largest capital campaign in the university’s history, which raised $1.37 billion.
Earlier in his career, Phillips spent 14 years as assistant treasurer and then treasurer at Williams College, where he managed the college’s investment portfolio. He also managed investment administration at Princeton University.
Several major organizations have benefited from Phillips’ financial expertise. He served three terms on Rotary International’s investment committee (including as vice chair) and held similar roles with the American Red Cross and the New York State Common Retirement Fund. He currently serves on the investment committee of the Templeton Foundation.
Phillips and his wife, Diana, are active philanthropists who have supported numerous causes in the Rochester, N.Y., community. Phillips has also served on the boards of the Al Sigl Foundation, the Gateways Music Festival, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rochester Rotary Charitable Trusts.
To recognize his exceptional stewardship of institutional endowments, Phillips was honored in 2010 with the Rodney H. Adams Award from the National Association of College and University Business Officers. In 2020, he received the Rochester Business Journal’s Icon Award for his professional accomplishments and enduring contributions to the Rochester community.
Phillips holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and BA degrees in English and Business Administration from Rutgers University.