PATH has turned to Steve Davis, the well-known technology executive and global health leader, to be its new president and CEO.
The Seattle-based global health nonprofit said today that Davis, the former CEO of digital image company Corbis and a global director at the consulting firm McKinsey, will replace Chris Elias in PATH’s top job on June 11. While Davis is probably best known for his work at Corbis—a Bill Gates-backed operation—he has a long history of association with global health, particularly through serving on the boards of PATH, the Infectious Disease Research Institute, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Two years ago, he told Xconomy about his first experience with the gritty reality of full-time global health work when, at the urging of Elias, he took a leave from McKinsey to temporarily oversee PATH’s global health work in India. Elias announced in October that he was leaving PATH to take the top anti-poverty job at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“I have long admired PATH for its spirit of innovation and its tremendous strides in addressing inequities and saving lives around the world,” Davis said in a PATH statement today. “My work always has been fueled by a passion for creating genuine social impact with leading-edge innovations, and I am honored to join such a prominent and effective organization, to continue PATH’s powerful work in global health.”
PATH greatly expanded its size and scope under Elias over the past 11 years, and the organization Davis takes over is now a significant player in global health—thanks in large part to more than $1.3 billion in grant support from the Gates Foundation. PATH now has an annual budget of $305 million and more than 1,200 employees who oversee programs in 22 countries. As I described in a February 2009 feature, PATH seeks to develop and deliver clever technologies to help fight diseases that disproportionately hit poor people around the world. PATH’s work spans a wide range of technologies, including malaria vaccines, fortified rice, and efforts to provide clean drinking water.
