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Ian Morrison, a futurist and health policy expert who served on the California Health Care Foundation board of directors in the early 2000s, died on February 5, 2025, in Menlo Park. He was 73.
The cause of death was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the family said.
Morrison grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. He earned advanced degrees in geography and urban planning before emigrating to Vancouver, Canada. There he met his wife Nora and earned a PhD in urban studies at the University of British Columbia.
In 1985, Morrison moved to California and joined the Institute for the Future, becoming president in 1991 and president emeritus in 1998.
For four decades, he advised government, industry, and nonprofits, primarily in health care, working independently and with the Harris Poll, Harvard School of Public Health, Accenture, and Leavitt Partners. He specialized in forecasting and planning with an emphasis on health care.
Author and Expert on Change
Morrison worked with more than 100 Fortune 500 companies in health care, manufacturing, information technology, and financial services. He was a New York Times bestselling author of The Second Curve — Managing the Velocity of Change, published in 1997, and Healthcare in the New Millennium: Vision, Values and Leadership, which came out in 2000.
“Ian was a powerhouse thinker who possessed formidable technical knowledge of the health care system and an ability to hear where people experienced pain points in it,” said CHCF President and CEO Sandra R. Hernández, MD.
“His futurist views were informed by what was happening in the world and by what was possible and important to do,” Hernández said. “Ian was so good at taking complex strategic questions and using both serious analysis and humor to push health care leaders to think differently about the future. His unique approach earned respect from leaders of hospitals, health plans, safety net organizations, and start-ups, as well as academics.”
In addition to his time on the CHCF Board of Directors, which he also chaired, Morrison served on the boards of Martin Luther King Community Healthcare in Los Angeles, the Center for Health Design, and the research and education arm of the American Hospital Association (AHA).
“Using data-based assessments and firsthand experience with both governmental and market-oriented systems, Ian deployed a humble futurist orientation and his incredible sense of humor to make his counsel compelling and digestible,” AHA President Emeritus Rich Umbdenstock said in the organization’s tribute to Morrison. “He and his many gifts will be missed.”
While Morrison was funny and irreverent at work, family and friends knew him as warm-hearted, insightful, and joyous. He was married to Nora for 44 years, and together they traveled the world, playing many great golf courses on their trips. They cherished family traditions like their annual visit to Priest Lake in Northern Idaho.
He is survived by his wife; their son David, his wife Lydia, and their son Elias; and their daughter Caitlin, her husband Joe, and their son Jacob. Morrison is also survived by his sister Fiona and her husband Dennis in Canada, as well as extended family in Scotland and Canada.
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