Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D. | Brunswick Group
Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D.

Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D.

Partner, San Francisco

Lanhee is a leading U.S. public policy expert, political commentator, and former candidate for statewide office in California.

With his experience, Lanhee advises companies in the U.S. and around the world on public affairs, as well as geopolitical and policy issues, with a particular focus on the Healthcare and Life Sciences and Technology, Media and Telecommunications sectors.

Lanhee is the David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution and Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and he is a regular contributor at CNN Opinion. He has also provided political and policy commentary on every major American television network.

Lanhee ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for California State Controller but earned more votes in the general election than any other Republican candidate in America and won the endorsement of every major newspaper in the state.

Previously, Lanhee served as a senior appointee at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the George W. Bush administration. He has also advised four Republican presidential campaigns. Lanhee was the Policy Director of the Romney-Ryan 2012 campaign and served as Romney’s chief policy advisor; advised Senator Marco Rubio on his 2016 presidential bid; served as Domestic Policy Director of Romney's 2008 campaign; and was a Health Policy Advisor to President Bush in his 2004 re-election campaign. From 2014 to 2018, Lanhee was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the Social Security Advisory Board.

Earlier in his career, Lanhee was an operating partner and strategic advisor at NewRoad Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and a business litigator at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Lanhee is a member of the Boards of Directors of El Camino Health, the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship, and the Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation.

He earned a Ph.D. and an A.M. in political science from Harvard University, his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School and an A.B. magna cum laude in government from Harvard College.