Dr. Olson Huff Appointed Chair of NCPC Board
One of America’s most respected pediatricians, Dr. Olson Huff, M.D., has been named chairman of the board of The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. (NCPC), the organization that leads Smart Start across the state. Huff fills the position left vacant by Ashley Thrift last year. In this role, Huff will lead the 26-member board that provides oversight to ensure that all North Carolina children have access to the high-quality early care and education they need to thrive.
A Kentucky native, Huff practiced pediatrics in North Carolina for more than 33 years. He spent much of that time in the Asheville area where he created and worked for a developmental pediatrics program at the Thoms Rehabilitation Hospital. In 1995, the program was named the Olson Huff Center for Child Development in his honor. In 1994 he was appointed by Mission Hospital as the Medical Director for the Ruth and Billy Graham Children’s Health Center, which, during his tenure, became Mission Children’s Hospital. Huff retired from that position in 2001 to become a consultant to the Mission Hospital Health Care Foundation.
Dr. Huff has served as president of the NC Pediatric Society and is currently chair the Committee on Federal Government Affairs of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has been a tireless advocate on behalf of children and has devoted untold voluntary hours in this role. He was a Senior Fellow for Action for Children and a Commissioner for the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund. He also has served on a number of boards and commissions, including the NC Foundation for Advanced Health Programs, N.C. Institute of Medicine, Mountain Area Health Education Center, the North Carolina Pediatric Society, and many others.
Huff has a long history of service with NCPC. He was on the original NCPC Board of Directors that created Smart Start in North Carolina in the early 1990s. He served on the board for 14 years and was the chair of the Planning and Oversight Committee for many of those years. Now he returns as chair of this organization, which has been instrumental improving the quality of child care in the state and serving the health needs of the state’s youngest children.
“We are thrilled that Olson Huff has been named chairman of the NCPC Board,” said Tannis Nelson, Vice Chair and Acting Board Chair of NCPC. “His life’s passion has been ensuring that all children in the state are healthy and have the support they need to reach their fullest potential. We are thrilled to have such a respected champion for children guiding our work at this critical juncture, when health and humans services programs for families and children hang in the balance.”
