Dr. Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., M.H.S.A., was appointed Director of AHRQ in February 2022. He was previously the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Professor Emeritus of Family & Community Medicine and Economics at the University of New Mexico (UNM).  He received his Ph.D. from the Pardee RAND Graduate School for Public Policy Studies specializing in studies of healthcare financing and quality of medical care. At the University of Michigan School of Public Health, he was awarded a master’s degree in Health Policy & Administration. At Harvard University, Dr. Valdez studied in the Department of History and Science specializing in Latin American history and Biochemistry.