Rebecca W. Rimel is president and chief executive officer of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit organization driven by the power of knowledge to solve some of today’s most challenging problems.

Rebecca Rimel joined The Pew Charitable Trusts in 1983 as health program manager. She became executive director in 1988 and accepted her current position in 1994. As president, she has helped make Pew one of the nation’s most innovative and influential nonprofits. During her more than 20 years at the helm, Pew has become known for its entrepreneurial, results-based approach.

Additionally, Rebecca Rimel serves on the board of directors for Deutsche Asset Management/DWS Funds and CardioNet, Inc., a leading wireless medical technology company. She is also a trustee emeritus of Monticello (the Thomas Jefferson Foundation), a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and a member of the American Philosophical Society and its prestigious Wistar Association.

Prior to joining Pew, Rebecca Rimel built an exemplary career in health care, specifically in nursing. From 1981 through 1983, she served as an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia, which made her the first nurse to hold a faculty position in the university’s medical school. Along with additional teaching and practitioner positions at the University of Virginia Hospital, she served as head nurse of the medical center’s emergency department. During her tenure, Rebecca Rimel authored and co-authored many scientific articles, abstracts and book chapters pertaining to head injury.

Rebecca Rimel earned a bachelor of science degree, with distinction, from the University of Virginia School of Nursing in 1973 and a master of business administration from James Madison University in 1983. In 1982, she was awarded a Kellogg National Fellowship, a four-year professional enrichment opportunity for emerging leaders. In 1988, she received the Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award from the University of Virginia and, in 1999, the University of Virginia Women’s Center Distinguished Alumni Award.