Michael Dukakis: "The Uninsured: 44 Million... and Counting"
The Center for Public Policy and Administration welcomes former Massachusetts governor and presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis to campus to speak as part of the CPPA’s Distinguished Lecture Series, “In Celebration of Public Service.” The event is free and open to all. A short reception will follow the talk in Bowker.
The Governor will focus his talk, “The Uninsured: 44 Million and Counting,” on health care policies as well as share his reflections on his career in public service and views on the presidential campaign. CPPA will also acknowledge his many years of dedicated service to the people of this country and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Nearly one in six Americans under the age of 65 lacks health insurance; of that group, eight in ten are from working families. Lack of insurance threatens the health and wellbeing of the uninsured and has poses complex challenges to our nation’s healthcare system. The next administration’s role in addressing these challenges is a key issue in this year’s election—one that this presentation will evaluate in lively, compelling terms.
Michael Stanley Dukakis served four terms as a Massachusetts legislator and became Governor for the first time in 1974, again in 1982, and was reelected to an unprecedented third, four-year term in 1986 by one of the largest margins in history. In 1986, his colleagues in the National Governors Association voted him the most effective governor in the nation. Dukakis won the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States in 1988 but was defeated by George H.W. Bush. Since 1991, Dukakis has been Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University and Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at UCLA. His research has focused on national health care policy reform and the lessons that national policy makers can learn from state reform efforts. Dukakis was nominated by President Clinton for a five year term as a member of the new Board of Directors of Amtrak in 1998. He currently holds the position of Vice-Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Board.
The Center for Public Policy and Administration was established in 1998 as a non-partisan interdisciplinary center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. CPPA is committed to improving public policy and governance by educating leaders for public service and conducting and applying interdisciplinary research.
