International State of the State

with Governor Doug Ducey

Registration

$75 for PCFR Members

$250 for Non-Members

Join PCFR as a member before ISOS and receive member pricing here.

Please reach out to our team for table and other sponsorship opportunities at tina@pcfraz.org.

SAVE YOUR SEAT

Schedule

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Registration opens at 11:oo am 

Lunch program at 12:00 pm

Venue

Sheraton Phoenix Downtown

Valley of the Sun ABC Ballroom

340 N. 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ

Parking

Parking in the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix garage will be validated.

About ISOS

Since 2006, the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations has hosted Arizona’s premier foreign relations event — the International State of the State — with distinguished guests including Governors of the state of Arizona, world diplomats and United States Senators.

The International State of the State event is the platform through which our Governor and foreign affairs community look outward from metro Phoenix to the state and to the world. What are our challenges and benefits? What are the pressures and issues?

PCFR’s mission is to help grow Arizona’s influence on the world stage. With our state’s unique geography, climate and outstanding innovative educational institutions, our willing workforce is ready to participate in a robust exchange of ideas, of goods, services and goodwill. Please join us in this annual tradition to learn about the state of Arizona within the international community. President Robert C. Robbins of University of Arizona will moderate the fireside discussion.

Governor Doug Ducey

Governor Doug Ducey

State of Arizona

Elected in 2014, and re-elected in 2018, Governor Ducey has applied his experience from a successful career in business to bring much-needed change to Arizona government.

Upon taking office, the governor inherited a $1 billion budget deficit. He quickly took action and balanced the budget in his first year — without raising taxes. Today, the state budget is balanced with a one billion dollar surplus and a record one billion dollars in its Rainy Day Fund. Business is thriving and more people are moving to Arizona than almost anywhere in the country.

Committed to investing in public education, Governor Ducey led an historic and bipartisan effort to invest $3.5 billion into K-12 schools in his first year, injecting more dollars into Arizona’s classrooms. With a focus on teacher pay, the governor also successfully championed the passage of legislation to increase teacher pay 20 percent by 2020.

Governor Ducey has cut regulations and simplified taxes every year to stimulate job creation and economic growth. He remains committed to making Arizona a land of “Opportunity for All” and has pledged to work every day to make that vision a reality.

Governor Ducey was born in Toledo, Ohio. He moved to Arizona in 1982 to attend Arizona State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. He and his wife, Angela, live in Paradise Valley with their three sons, Jack, Joe and Sam. He is Arizona’s 23rd governor.

Moderator

Dr. Robert C. Robbins

President, University of Arizona

Dr. Robert C. Robbins assumed his position as the 22nd president of the University of Arizona on June 1, 2017. Previously, he served as president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston from 2012 to 2017. In this role, he significantly enhanced TMC's commitment to collaboration, introducing five cross-institutional research initiatives centered on innovation, genomics, regenerative medicine, health policy and clinical research.

Prior to his time in Houston, Dr. Robbins served as professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, founding director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, president of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, president of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association, president of the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate, president of the Bay Area Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and chair of the American Heart Association Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia Council, among other roles.

An internationally recognized cardiac surgeon, Robbins has focused his clinical efforts on acquired cardiac diseases with a special expertise in the surgical treatment of congestive heart failure and cardiothoracic transplantation. His research work includes the investigation of stem cells for cardiac regeneration, cardiac transplant allograft vasculopathy, bioengineered blood vessels, and automated vascular anastomotic devices. Robbins is the author of more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and a former guest editor of the Circulation Surgical Supplement.

In addition to leading the UA, Dr. Robbins serves on the boards of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. He is also a member of the Chairman’s Circle of Sun Corridor, Inc., and a member of Greater Phoenix Leadership. While at TMC, Robbins served on the Houston branch of the Dallas Federal Reserve board and the board of directors of the Welch Foundation. In 2016 he was president of the American Heart Association Southwest Affiliate. He served on an independent blue ribbon committee to evaluate the Veterans Affairs health system, and the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston honored him as the 2016 International Citizen of the Year.

His educational background includes a B.S. in chemistry from Millsaps College, a medical degree from the University of Mississippi, general surgical training at the University of Mississippi, cardiothoracic training at Stanford University, postdoctoral research at Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health, and congenital heart surgical fellowships at Emory University and Royal Children’s Hospital.