Dr. John H. Klippel 

President and CEO

 John Howard Klippel, M.D. is president and CEO of the Arthritis Foundation, the largest voluntary health organization serving the 50 million Americans living with the nation’s number-one cause of disability. Dr. Klippel has held the position since October 2003. 

Under his leadership, the Arthritis Foundation has continued to grow in national prominence and the provision of services to local communities. Dr. Klippel is currently spearheading an ambitious strategic plan that will strengthen and expand the role of the Arthritis Foundation in the lives of people and families with arthritis and better meet their needs.  The plan has established a goal to reduce the impact of arthritis on the nation’s health by 20% by 2030 through investments and partnerships in arthritis awareness, consumer empowerment, and access to health care, research, and arthritis health disparities.

Dr. Klippel joined the Arthritis Foundation in September 1999, as Medical Director and was the principal liaison for the organization for medical research and professional affairs with responsibility for oversight of the Foundation’s research programs.

Prior to joining the Arthritis Foundation, Dr. Klippel served as Clinical Director of the National Institutes of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). During his professional career at the National Institutes of Health, he authored or co-authored 190 peer-reviewed publications and textbook chapters related to arthritis.  He has served as editor of the Primer on the Rheumatic Diseases and the textbook Rheumatology.

Dr. Klippel earned a B.A. magna cum laude at Bowling Green State University and an M.D. at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He completed internship and residency training in internal medicine at the Yale-New Haven Hospital and fellowship training in rheumatology at the National Institutes of Health and the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Klippel is a member of several academic honor societies including Alpha Omega Alpha, Phi Eta Sigma, and Omicron Delta Kappa and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Master of the American College of Rheumatology.  His honors and awards include the Surgeon General’s Exemplary Service Award and the Directors Award from the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Klippel serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Health Council.

Dr. Klippel resides in Atlanta with his wife Sally. They enjoy golf, tennis, collecting decoys, walking on the beach, their grandchildren and their Portuguese water dogs Cooper and Toby.