Harvey Picker, Ph.D.
Founder of Picker Institute
Boston, Mass.

Harvey Picker the founder of Picker Institute.
December 8,1915 - March 23, 2007

Harvey Picker and his wife, Jean, believed that the American healthcare system was technologically and scientifically outstanding, but that it was not adequately sensitive to the concerns and comforts of patients. As a result, Picker Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and promoting a patient-centered approach to healthcare, was founded in 1986.Picker Institute's were established in Sweden, Switzerland and Germany in 1998 and a sister nonprofit, Picker Institute Europe, was established in  2000.

“Understanding and respecting patients’ values, preferences and expressed needs are the foundation of patient-centered care,” said Dr. Picker in describing the mission of the Picker institute.

Volunteering for service in the U.S. Navy before the United States entered World War II, Dr. Picker rose to the rank of lieutenant commander, serving first as a watch officer and then for five years at the Radiation Laboratory at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., where he worked on research and development in microwave radar. He then went into the medical imaging business as president and chief executive of Picker X-Ray (later Picker International), a major manufacturer of not only X-ray but also nuclear, ultrasound and other types of imaging devices.

Educated at Colgate University, Oxford University and the Harvard Business School, Dr. Picker returned to school at the age of 50 to study for a doctoral degree. He became a professor of International Affairs and the dean of the Graduate School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York, N.Y.

He served the U.S. Government as a member of the National Science Board, and the United Nations as a member of the board of trustees for the UN’s Institute for Training and Research.