Barbara Whalen
Barbara Whalen joined the Harvard Kennedy School staff as executive director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy in 2002. During her time at HKS she also served as chief of staff to former Dean David T. Ellwood. She is actively engaged with HKS students and is an advisor to the Health Policy Professional Interest Council (PIC). Barbara’s public policy interests include health policy issues, long-term care management, and healthcare workforce topics.
Prior to joining HKS, Barbara worked in the Massachusetts health care industry as a long-term care administrator and as executive director at New Horizons at Choate in Woburn, Massachusetts. New Horizons, the former Choate Hospital, is a large outpatient medical center and senior living community. In addition to her work as a healthcare executive, Barbara was active in industry associations as a board member of the Massachusetts Extended Care Federation and is a past-president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Health Care Administrators. Before working in healthcare, she served as the assistant director of the Division of Registration in Massachusetts state government. She is a graduate of Stonehill College and earned an MPA at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Massachusetts.