John E. Craig, Jr., The Commonwealth Fund's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, has announced he will retire at the end of 2014, after 33 years at the Fund.
Since joining the foundation in 1981, he has served as vice president and treasurer, and, since 1992, as executive vice president, Craig has overseen an endowment that has more than quintupled since his arrival, and in doing so, has shored up the Fund's capacity to continue enhancing "the common good" for decades to come.
"This is indeed a bittersweet occasion for me, for everyone who has worked withover the years at the Fund, and for the entire field of philanthropy," said Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D. "It is no exaggeration to say that John will be leaving the Fund at the end of the year at the absolute pinnacle of his success, as defined not only by his performance on behalf of the institution he has served for more than three decades, but also by his many and continuing contributions to the larger philanthropic and nonprofit world."
A graduate of Davidson College and Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Craig was a Foreign Service reserve officer in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971, commanding combined military and civilian advisory teams in the Mekong Delta. Following this service, he was an economic advisor to the planning and finance ministries of several Asian and African countries while associated with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Commerce. His work with foundations began when he directed the Health Policy Research Group at Georgetown University School of Medicine. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he launched the John A. Hartford Foundation's health care financing reform program.
"John Craig's introduction of professional financial and management practices at a critical moment helped secure The Commonwealth Fund's endowment and ensure that the foundation could continue its work for decades to come," said Commonwealth Fund Board President James R. Tallon, Jr., who is also president of the United Hospital Fund.
Aside from his duties at the Fund, Craig is the chair of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York City and serves on the boards of the International Women's Health Coalition and the TIFF Education Foundation. Earlier he was chair of the board of The Investment Fund for Foundations and a member of the board of The Picker Institute.