Powering Change
Founded in 2024, the Leonard D. Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service at the University of Southern California develops evidence-based solutions to address the nation’s most pressing policy issues.
Building on the successes of its flagship programs—the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, the Schaeffer Fellows in Government Service, the Center for Civic Society, and the Center for Economic and Social Research—the Institute serves as a policy laboratory to develop and test ideas generated by the USC academic community. It fosters civic engagement, supports new generations of public service leaders, and provides a forum to reach federal and global policymakers.
The Schaeffer Institute has offices at USC in Los Angeles and at the USC Capital Campus in Washington, DC.
About Leonard Schaeffer
Leonard D. Schaeffer is one of the most accomplished leaders in American healthcare, with a career that spans the private, public and philanthropic sectors. He was the founding chairman and CEO of WellPoint, then the nation’s largest health benefits company by membership, and earlier he was the administrator of the federal Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) with responsibility for the U.S. Medicare and Medicaid programs. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, serves as the chair of the USC Health System Board and is vice chair of the Board of Trustees at the Brookings Institution. He also served on the boards of numerous business, philanthropic and professional organizations.
Our DC Campus
Our proximity to the heart of national policymaking provides our scholars with greater opportunity to shape critical debates. The Schaeffer Institute’s DC headquarters at the USC Capital Campus expands our national reach, enabling our scholars to more easily collaborate with decision-makers to advance evidence-based solutions.
