Dr. Baase’s professional life has been devoted to improving the health of populations at scale, building the evidence base and practice of upstream actions and acting as a steward of system change.   Catherine Baase retired from her role as Chief Health Officer and Global Director of Health Services for Dow, a position she held for 20 years of her 32 years there.  Under her leadership, their health programs were extensively recognized for their innovation and achievement around the world.  She has co-authored 50 publications and received many awards for leadership in the health field.  Throughout her career, Dr. Baase has been involved across the landscape of health including: public health, healthcare, health policy, health promotion and occupational health.   

Dr. Baase was a founder (2007) and chaired the Michigan Health Improvement Alliance (MIHIA), a multi-stakeholder collaborative dedicated to improving the health of people in 14 counties of central Michigan for 15 years and continues as chair emerita and board member.  She is as a member of the National Advisory Board of the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.  Dr. Baase is a member of the National Alliance to impact Social Determinants of Health, NASDOH.   She is also on the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences Advisory Board at UC Irvine and the Saginaw Valley State University College of Health Professions Advisory Board.      

She has been a key partner in numerous national initiatives with emphasis on population health and business involvement in health.