As the head of the Department of Health & Human Services from 2001-05, Secretary Tommy G. Thompson served as the nation’s leading advocate for the health and welfare of all Americans.

Under his administration, the HHS Donation Initiative emerged, which included the launch of programs such as National Donate Life Month, Workplace Partnership for Life, and most notably the Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative, a program launched in 2003 with the goal of increasing organ donation rates to 75 percent of eligible donors at the nation's hospitals. The Collaborative has been the primary force behind the rise in the organ donation rate from 55 percent in 2003 to 68 percent in 2007, with organs transplanted increasing from approximately 1,700 per month in 2003 to more than 2,000 per month in 2007.

Prior to serving in the cabinet, Thompson had a long and distinguished career in public service, including three terms as governor of Wisconsin. As Governor, Thompson signed into law the Kelly Nachreiner Bill, the first of its kind in the country, that required all drivers ed programs in Wisconsin to give 30 minutes of instruction on organ donation. That bill served as the foundation for his national organ donation curriculum for middle and high schools, “Decision Donation.”