Eugene Washington

Washington is from Houston. His father was a minister, his mother was a homemaker, and he was the youngest of five children. He grew up during segregation in the South of the United States.

Washington attended Howard University. He was a medical student at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the medical school at UCSF as a medical student in 1972, before completing his residency at Stanford University. Washington earned a master's degree in medicine at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 1978. Washington was a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Master of Public Health.

University of California, San Francisco

In 1989 Washington joined the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco. In the same year, Washington co-led the creation of the Center for Reproductive Health Policy Research in the Institute for Health Policy Studies and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. In 1996, Washington became Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. In 1997 Washington was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, and later served on their governing council. He led several projects at UCSF, including the implementation of a ten-point diversity initiative. In 2002, he was honored with UCSF's Chancellor Award for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership, an award for "outstanding commitment and service to the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion". He established the Medical Effectiveness Research Centre for Diverse Populations, which looked to promote health and prevent disease in ethnically diverse populations. He worked with colleagues at Stanford University to lead an evidence-based practice centre. In 2004, Washington was appointed Executive Vice Chancellor and in 2006 became the university’s first Provost while continuing to serve as Executive Vice Chancellor. Washington worked at the UCSF School of Medicine until 2009.

After graduating, Washington joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His career in medicine and health policy began at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in New York. Washington completed a residency in Preventive Medicine at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 1979.

Clinical Effectiveness Research and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Washington served as the founding chair of the board of governors of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), authorised by the Affordable Care Act to research clinical effectiveness. His research considered medical technologies and the translation of health research into policy. Washington oversaw the creation of policy guidelines on cervical cancer and prenatal genetics. He joined Johnson & Johnson as a director in 2012.

UCLA Health

Washington was made vice chancellor and dean at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 2009. There he worked as professor of gynaecology and health policy. In 2011, he was appointed chief executive officer of UCLA Health System.

Washington is married to Marie Washington, with whom he has three children.