Francisco G. Cigarroa, an American transplant surgeon and former chancellor of the University of Texas System, is the chairman of the left-of-center Ford Foundation.

Background

After receiving a medical degree in 1983, Cigarroa was chief resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, the teaching hospital of Harvard University’s Medical School, as well as a fellow in pediatric and transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. ¹

In 1995, Cigarroa joined the faculty of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as director of pediatric surgery and, later in 2000, as the institution’s president. In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Cigarroa to serve on the twelve-member President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science, which deliberates on potential recipients of a prize administered by the National Science Foundation to individuals who have made significant contributions in the hard sciences. ^{2 3}

In January 2009, Cigarroa was made chancellor of the University of Texas System and in the following year, on July 1, 2010, he was elected to a six-year term as an alumni fellow of the Yale Corporation, which governs Yale University. In December 2011, Cigarroa was invited to the White House along with other higher education professionals to share a program he had developed for the University Board of Regents with President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. ⁴ Roughly three years later, on February 10, 2014, Cigarroa announced his resignation from the University of Texas System. ^{5 6}

Ford Foundation

On October 23, 2014, Cigarroa was elected to serve as a member of the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation and on June 25, 2018, he was elected chair of that board, succeeding Kofi Appenteng. ^{7 8} The Ford Foundation, which for most of its history was the largest in the United States (and which in the 1960s in part created the notion of the action-oriented private foundation) has assets of more than $12 billion, and generally supports center-left and left-wing causes. ^{9 10} As of 2016, the foundation’s grantmaking activity is focused in seven areas: civic engagement and government; free expression and creativity; equitable development; gender, racial, and ethnic justice; inclusive economies; Internet freedom; and youth opportunity and learning. ¹¹

Other Nonprofits

Cigarroa is a trustee of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, a healthcare professional development organization; the Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy, a local park conservancy group in San Antonio; and the Alamo Endowment Board of the Texas General Land Office. ^{12 13}

He is also a member of various medical and scientific professional organizations, including the American College of Surgery, the Institute of Medicine, the American Board of Surgery, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Formerly, Cigarroa sat on the governing boards of educational organizations including the National Research Council Committee on Research Universities and the American Academy Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. ¹⁴

1. “Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D, Biography.” University of Texas System. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.utsystem.edu/chancellor/former-chancellors/francisco-cigarroa
2. “National Medal of Science.” National Science Foundation. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/medal.jsp
3. “Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D, Biography.” University of Texas System. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.utsystem.edu/chancellor/former-chancellors/francisco-cigarroa
4. Nelson, Libby A. “Summoned to the White House (Update).” Insider Higher Ed. December 2, 2011. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/02/obama-invites-college-presidents-meeting
5. “Francisco G. Cigarroa: Chair, Board of Trustees.” Ford Foundation. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/about/people/francisco-g-cigarroa/
6. Smith, Evan. “Cigarroa Confirms He’ll Step Down as UT Chancellor.” Texas Tribune. February 9, 2014. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.texastribune.org/2014/02/09/report-cigarroa-step-down-ut-chancellor/
7. “Distinguished surgeon and former Chancellor of the University of Texas System will lead Ford Foundation Board of Trustees.” Ford Foundation. June 25, 2018. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/news-and-press/news/distinguished-surgeon-and-former-chancellor-of-the-university-of-texas-system-will-lead-ford-foundation-board-of-trustees/#:~:text=New%20York%2C%2025%20June%202018,and%20will%20succeed%20Kofi%20Appenteng
8. “Ford Foundation appoints Dr. Francisco Cigarroa to Board of Trustees.” Ford Foundation. October 23, 2014. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/news-and-press/news/ford-foundation-appoints-dr-francisco-cigarroa-to-board-of-trustees/
9. Ford Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2014.
10. Heather Mac Donald, “The Billions of Dollars That Made Things Worse.” City Journal. Autumn 1996. Accessed March 7, 2022.  https://www.city-journal.org/html/billions-dollars-made-things-worse-12159.html
11. “Challenging inequality.” Ford Foundation. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/challenging-inequality/
12. “The Conservancy.” Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.philhardbergerpark.org/the-conservancy
13. “Who We Are.” Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://macyfoundation.org/about/who-we-are
14. “Francisco G. Cigarroa: Chair, Board of Trustees.” Ford Foundation. Accessed March 7, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/about/people/francisco-g-cigarroa/