Rajiv Shah

Rajiv J. "Raj" Shah (born March 9, 1973) is the president of the Rockefeller Foundation. He is a former American government official, physician and health economist who served as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2010 to 2015. Shah is the author of the book "Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Occurs," which was released by Simon Element on October 10, 2023. Background, education and early career Shah was born to Indian Gujarati immigrant parents who settled in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the late 1960s. Shah is an adherent of the Hindu faith. He grew up in the Detroit area and attended Wylie E. Groves High School. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. He went on to earn a Master of Science in Health Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine. Shah also spent time at the London School of Economics where he earned a general course certificate in economics. During the 2000 Gore-Lieberman Presidential Campaign, Shah was a health policy advisor and research associate. He also served as a member of Governor Ed Rendell's (D-PA) transition committee on health. The Gates Foundation Shah joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2001, serving in a range of leadership roles including Director of Agricultural Development, Director of Strategic Opportunities, Deputy Director of Policy and Finance and Chief Economist. Shah was also responsible for developing the International Finance Facility for Immunization, which raised more than $5 billion for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). IFFI has been recognized as an example of the power of innovative financing for global development.