Combining a Harvard education and a lifetime of practicing natural and preventive medicine, Dr. Weil is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, where he is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health and the Lovell-Jones Professor of Integrative Rheumatology. Dr. Weil received both his medical degree and his undergraduate AB degree in biology (botany) from Harvard University.
Dr. Weil is an internationally-recognized expert for his views on leading a healthy lifestyle, his philosophy of healthy aging, and his critique of the future of medicine and health care. Approximately 10 million copies of Dr. Weil’s books have been sold, including Spontaneous Happiness, Spontaneous Healing, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Eating Well for Optimum Health, The Healthy Kitchen, Healthy Aging, and Why Our Health Matters.
Dr. Weil has also partnered with restaurateur Sam Fox to open a series of True Food Kitchen restaurants in California and Arizona focusing on making healthy eating a flavorful and satisfying experience. His newest book, a cookbook featuring recipes from the True Food Kitchen restaurants, will be published in October 2012.
Online, he is the editorial director of drweil.com, the leading web resource for healthy living based on the philosophy of integrative medicine. He can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/DrWeil, Twitter at twitter.com/DrWeil, and Dr. Weil’s Daily Health Tips blog at drweilblog.com.
He authors the popular “Self Healing” special publications. As a columnist for Prevention magazine and a frequent guest on Oprah, Dr. Oz and the Today Show, Dr. Weil provides valuable information and insight on how to incorporate conventional and complementary medicine practices in one’s life to optimize the body’s natural healing power.
As an entrepreneur and creator of sound business partnerships, Richard has been highly influential in the success of the renowned Weil brand.
Prior to joining Dr. Weil, Mr. Baxter was and still remains the president of the Executive Consulting Group. From 1984 to 1999, he provided management consulting services for the growth and profitability of over 300 companies. Earlier in his career Mr. Baxter was a professional tennis coach and manager in the sporting industry.
Mr. Baxter currently serves on the boards of Weil Lifestyle, LLC and the Weil Foundation. He is also a past president of the Southern Arizona Tennis Association and has served on the Board of the Southwestern Tennis Association.
He is a graduate of a specially-designed mini-MBA program conducted at Darden Business School of the University of Virginia.
Mr. Baxter currently resides with his family in Tucson, Arizona.
He graduated from Brown University in 1972 and from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1977. After completing an Internal Medicine residency at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Francisco, he became a fellow in Hematology-Oncology at the UCSF Cancer Research Institute in 1980.
During his fellowship, Dr. Abrams spent eight months working in the retrovirology laboratory of Harold Varmus, M.D. during the time that the first cases of AIDS were being diagnosed. He subsequently returned to the clinical arena where he was one of the original clinician/investigators to recognize many of the early AIDS-related conditions. He conducted numerous clinical trials investigating conventional as well as complementary therapies in patients with HIV including therapeutic touch, Traditional Chinese Medicine interventions, medicinal mushrooms, medical marijuana and distant healing.
His interest in botanical therapies led him to pursue a two-year Fellowship in the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona which he completed in December 2004. His particular passion in the field involves nutrition and cancer. Since completing his Fellowship, Dr. Abrams has been providing Integrative Medicine consultation to people living with and beyond cancer at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine where he served as Director of Clinical Programs from August 2006 to December 2008.
He has returned to clinical investigation in integrative oncology with interests in medicinal mushrooms, Traditional Chinese Medicine interventions and nutrition. He co-edited an Oxford University Press textbook in Integrative Oncology with Andrew Weil, M.D.. He is a member of the NCI PDQ CAM Editorial Board. Dr. Abrams was President of the Society of Integrative Oncology in 2010.
Practiced as Certified Public Accountant for almost six years with the Accounting firm of Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in Los Angeles, California, developing an expertise in real estate. Since 1973, he has syndicated approximately 100 limited partnerships acquiring and disposing of in excess of $1,000,000,000 in real estate. He has owned and operated in excess of 18,000 apartments; 500,000 ft. of shopping centers; 5 hotels totaling 948 rooms; approximately 850,000 square feet of office buildings; a golf course and in excess of 2,000 acres of land and has converted in excess of 700 apartments into condominiums.
In addition to the real estate investments, other significant investments include a national mail order company located in Cleveland, Ohio, a bank holding company, contact lens manufacturer, both located in Phoenix, Arizona and an auto dealership located in Santa Barbara, California.
A position she has held since February, 2009. Ms. Myers oversees the Company’s global innovation initiatives and is also responsible for implementing environmental sustainability and social responsibility efforts through brands, global affiliates, facilities, and corporate departments.
Ms. Myers is a proven leader in innovation, with more than 30 years experience in the Company. Prior to her current role, Ms. Myers was Global President of Origins, where she co-founded the brand and led the launch of the groundbreaking Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins and Origins Organic collections.
Other positions within the Company included senior management roles at Aveda, co-founder of BeautyBank and time with Aramis, where she was responsible for the introduction of several initiatives, including Lab Series Skincare for Men.
A summa cum laude graduate of Hunter College in New York, Ms. Myers holds a B.A. Degree in French and Italian Literature. She is a member of both the Fashion Group International and Cosmetics Executive Women. She has developed programs to raise funds for several not-for-profit initiatives, including Project Sunshine, which provides free services and programs to children living with medical challenges, on whose board she sits as a Director, and the Integrative Therapies Program for Children with Cancer, in the Division of Pediatrics Oncology at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. She is also a Director on the board of The Weil Foundation, which supports the advancement of integrative medicine through training, research, education and policy reform.
She was co-chair of the Task Force that developed a Climate Action Plan for the city of Chicago, and is a member of the Green Ribbon Committee. She served as a co-chair of the Council on Global Affairs study group on Chicago’s global future.
Mrs. Simmons was President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for a decade, overseeing grants of over $175 million a year, including an annual $25 million program for Chicago. The foundation’s international programs focus on the environment, population, international peace and security, understanding inequality within and among nations and climate change.
Mrs. Simmons is currently on the Board of Marsh and McLennan Companies, and a number of non-profit organizations, including the Field Museum, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Economic Club of Chicago, Demos and The American Prospect, the Synergos Institute, the Weil Foundation, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. She served as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Redesign Initiative.
She served on President Carter’s Commission on World Hunger and President Bush’s Commission on Sustainable Development and was a member of the Commission on Global Governance as well as the UN High Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. Before joining the MacArthur Foundation, Mrs. Simmons was President of Hampshire College, Dean of Students and Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University.
The Owner
As an 8-year-old boy, Robert Sarver attended his first Phoenix Suns basketball game after receiving tickets as a birthday gift from Donald Diamond, one of the franchise’s original owners. Thirty-five years later in 2004, Sarver became the majority owner of one of the NBA’s model franchises, assembling a group of investors that purchased the Suns, the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, and the operating rights to US Airways Center.
In seven years under Sarver’s leadership, the Suns have enjoyed virtually unparalleled success on the court. Phoenix owns the third-best record in the NBA since the start of the 2004-05 season (372-202, .648). His tenure includes three appearances in the Western Conference Finals and two of the three 60-win seasons in the franchise’s 43-year history. With his goal to create sustained success, the Suns’ payroll increased in each of Sarver’s first five seasons as owner, and ranked in the top 10 in the league in three of those campaigns and three of the last four seasons.
Sarver’s passion for winning extends beyond the men’s game. His continued commitment to the WNBA in Phoenix has resulted in the Mercury winning two league championships in 2007 and 2009. The Mercury have made have four Western Conference Finals appearances in the last five seasons. In 2009, the Mercury partnered with Tempe-based LifeLock and became the first team in NBA or WNBA history to secure a corporate-branded jersey.
Guided by his stated mission, the Suns and Mercury organizations are industry leaders in business innovation and community outreach and involvement.
Sarver is a member of the NBA’s Board of Governors, Labor Relations Committee, Advisory Finance Committee, and Audit and Compensation Committee.
The Businessman
Sarver is the Chairman and CEO of Western Alliance Bancorporation, which has $6.5 billion in assets and does business in Arizona, California, Nevada and Colorado. Western Alliance is the largest financial institution headquartered in Arizona. The company recently moved to the CityScape tower across the street from US Airways Center. More than 200 of the company’s 1,000 employees are in Phoenix. Despite tough economic times, the bank has written more than $1 billion in local business and real estate loans in Arizona over the last three years, and has continued to be one of the most active small business lenders in Arizona. The bank also financed the retail component of CityScape, demonstrating his commitment to the continued renaissance of downtown Phoenix.
Sarver is the co-founder of Southwest Value Partners, a 25-year-old contrarian real estate fund. He has served as a director of SkyWest Airlines since 2000 and Phoenix-based Meritage Corporation since 1996.
After the passing of his father, Jack, and with very little start-up capital, Sarver founded National Bank of Tucson in 1984, becoming the youngest person ever to found a national bank. Robert served as the company’s president until its sale in 1994.
The Philanthropist
Sarver’s ever-growing philanthropic efforts focus not simply on worthy causes but also giving back to Arizona and its local communities, both through Phoenix Suns Charities and his own personal contributions.
Under Sarver’s leadership, Phoenix Suns Charities has made nearly $6 million in donations to local non-profits. Most recently, PSC handed out a record $1.36 million in grants and scholarships to a record 178 non-profit organizations in 2011.
Among his proudest accomplishments, Sarver helped to build the Sarver Heart Center at the University of Arizona in memory of his late father, who was among the first to undergo heart bypass surgery. The center is composed of more than 150 physicians and scientists and aims to prevent and cure cardiovascular diseases through the three pillars of research, education and patient care. Pioneering doctors at the center have spearheaded the development of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart, an award-winning project that became the world’s first and only total artificial heart to win FDA approval as a bridge to human heart transplant in patients near death from heart failure. The innovation earned SynCardia recognition from the Arizona BioIndustry Association as “Arizona Bioscience Company of the Year” in 2011 for “doing to the most to transform the world during the last 12 months.” Sarver personally funded the initial stages of the project and currently sits on the Board of Trustees for the center.
Doctors and researchers at the center developed a hands-only CPR method called Continuous Chest Compression CPR that doubles a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest, and are continuing a program of outreach and education to make use of the method more widespread.
The center recently started a women’s heart health program focused on expanding research and providing statewide awareness programs about women’s heart issues.
The Sarvers were also instrumental in helping to build the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, located in downtown Phoenix. A $1 million donation from the Penny and Robert Sarver Charitable Foundation aided in the completion of the 70,000-square-foot facility.
Sarver is on the board of directors for the Weil Foundation, established by Dr. Andrew Weil, an internationally recognized leader in integrative medicine.
The Person
The 50-year-old Sarver is a 1979 graduate of Sabino High School in Tucson and a 1982 graduate of the University of Arizona. Sarver earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration, and became a certified public accountant in 1983.
Sarver and wife Penny have three sons, Max, Jake and Zach. On their first date, Robert invited Penny to watch the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at his house. Sarver is a “soccer dad,” who can regularly be found at one of his three boys’ soccer games or coaching his sons in the Jr. Suns league at the YMCA.
In 1970, Janet received a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics Education from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. After graduation, she moved to Tucson where she received a Master of Science Degree in Child Development at the University of Arizona. She went on to teach child development and preschool at Iowa State University and later returned to the University of Arizona where she taught child development and directed the laboratory preschool. Janet has also completed undergraduate and graduate work in business administration and worked in economic development and real estate investment sales.
Janet is a member of the Bravewell Collaborative, a community of philanthropists who have worked together for the purpose of advancing integrative medicine. She is also a member of the Friends of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. The Friends assist in raising funds to support research at the Institute, provide educational programs on topics of mental illness, and promote awareness of mental and neurological disorders. In addition, she serves as a member of the Tiffany Circle of the American Red Cross.
He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Boston City Hospital and the New England Medical Center. After a fellowship in Cardiology at Harvard’s Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, he was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School from 1967-1975, where he was Associate Professor of Medicine.
From 1975 to 1988, he was at the University of Massachusetts where he served as Chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine (1975-1977) and then Chairman of Medicine (1977-88). From 1986 to 1987 he served as Interim Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Worcester.
Dr. Dalen has been a member of the University of Arizona faculty since 1988. He served as Dean of the College of Medicine from 1988 to 2001, and Vice President for Health Sciences from 1995 to 2001. During his tenure as Dean and Vice President, the College of Public Health, The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the Arizona Telemedicine Program were established. Successful fund raising led to the establishment of new research facilities including the Children’s Research Center, The Sarver Heart Center, The Arizona Arthritis Center and a major expansion of the Arizona Cancer Center.
Currently he is Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Public Health, and teaches in the colleges of Medicine and Public Health. In addition, he is Executive Director of the Weil Foundation which supports education in Integrative Medicine.
From 1988 until 2004 he was Editor of the Archives of Internal Medicine and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Dalen established and served as Co-Chairman for the ACCP Consensus Conference on Antithrombotic Therapy, which has resulted in the publication of eight CHEST Supplements since 1986. He is the author or co-author of more than 350 publications in medical literature as well as eleven books and monographs.
He has served as President of the American College of Chest Physicians, President of the New England Cardiovascular Society, and Governor of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians.
He has received many teaching awards. In 1987 he received the Distinguished Public Service Award from the University of Massachusetts. In 1988 he was named the University of Washington Distinguished Medical Alumnus of the Year and received the Alumni Achievement Award from Washington State University. In 2000 he received the College Medal from the American College of Chest Physicians and was named a Master Fellow of the college. In 2010 he was awarded the Harvard School of Public Health’s highest honor for its alumni: the 2010 Alumni Award of merit.
