Meet the President

Richard Hart is the president of Loma Linda University Health, a post he has held since 2008. In this role, he oversees operations of the organization’s eight schools and six hospitals, as well as collaborative and consulting relationships with organizations worldwide.

Hart has served Loma Linda University Health since 1972, including serving as chair of the School of Public Health’s Department of Health Sciences, director of the Center for Health Promotion, chair of the School of Medicine’s Department of Preventive Medicine, dean of the School of Public Health, and president (previously chancellor) and CEO of the University.

Hart’s visionary leadership was key in the development of the organization’s San Bernardino campus, which opened in 2016 and is a major Loma Linda University Health initiative to improve the health and education of the San Bernardino region. The unique model includes a Federally Qualified Health Center, the San Manuel Gateway College offering health technician certificates, and training for medical residents, medical students, and techs.

He is also president of Adventist Health International, a management consulting organization for Seventh-day Adventist hospitals and clinics in developing countries. In addition, he is a consultant to the World Health Organization, has established health promotion services in numerous hospitals, and was responsible for developing the national health plan for the Marshall Islands under the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Hart also served as a consultant in Tanzania in the 1970s, first working as the head of the community health department at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and later as chief of party for the Ministry of Health based in Dar es Salaam.

As a student at Loma Linda University, Hart’s early involvement in student missionary work was key in the development of Students for International Mission Service and Social Action Community Health System — a local low-cost healthcare system for the medically underserved that operates to this day.

He holds a doctor of medicine degree from Loma Linda University, a doctorate of public health from Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Walla Walla University.