Robert Wood

Bob Wood honed his political campaign knowledge and organizational skills during the decade he ran statewide and congressional campaigns in the battleground state of Wisconsin. During that time, he served as a key campaign organizer for the only Republican challenger to unseat an incumbent congressman in 1990, worked as Gov. Tommy Thompson’s 1998 campaign manager, and led the state’s George W. Bush presidential campaign in 2000. Bob’s political experience also includes serving as Thompson’s chief of staff, both during his duration as Governor of Wisconsin and later when Thompson became Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). As chief of staff to Secretary Thompson, he also served as the Department’s chief liaison to other federal departments, governors and the White House. At HHS, Bob managed the daily operations of one of the largest departments in federal government, with oversight of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, and the National Institutes for Health. One of the accomplishments Bob helped bring about while at HHS was the passage and implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act. This landmark legislation provides seniors and people living with disabilities with a prescription drug benefit, more choices and better benefits under Medicare, all of which represent the most significant improvement to senior health care in nearly 40 years. Since joining BGR, Bob has used his state and federal experience to lead numerous campaigns for public policy efforts, which require insight about engaging lawmakers as well as activating grassroots and community-based support. One such campaign involved helping the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care – a national alliance composed of skilled nursing facilities – to recoup nearly one billion dollars a year from the federal government that it had previously lost. Bob and his wife Carrie have three children and currently reside in Alexandria, Virginia.