In this episode, I welcome Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, the former chief of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and former CEO of World Relief.

Admiral Ziemer explains how and why he saved 12 million people from death by malaria, and prevented another 2 billion cases of the disease.

He reflects on a life of disciplined service bookended by tragedy, from the 1968 attack in Vietnam that killed his father and left his mother with 18 grenade wounds, to the sudden loss of his wife of 54 years, Jodi.

From Admiral Ziemer, you'll learn these 3 things:

1) The surprising note his mom gave him after she landed in an air ambulance at Andrews AFB

2) What it took for him to say "yes" to the call from the White House

3) How to design a life

Chapters
00:00 – Introduction

03:40 – Understanding the scale of the world's deadliest disease.

08:31 – The "Decommissioning" of USAID

12:56 – The Drill Instructor’s "Black Book"

15:00 – A Childhood in a Leper Colony

19:19 – Processing the murder of his dad and the capture of his mom.

22:06 – A Note of Gratitude: The incredible moment on a medical transport plane.

26:52 – Returning to Vietnam

31:31 – "I Don’t Coordinate": Negotiating with the Bush White House for authority to get things done.

40:06 – "Go Save Lives": A direct briefing in the Oval Office

46:14 – Alone on Golden Pond: Navigating grief and finding purpose after the death of his wife.

47:31 – The Final Challenge: Design a life around faithfulness.

Links:
KFF Research

https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/the-trump-administrations-foreign-aid-review-status-of-the-presidents-malaria-initiative-pmi/

CDC Website: PMI Celebrates 15 Years

https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/globalhealth/stories/2020/celebrating-15-years.html

NIH Report on PMI

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8176495/

Wheaton Magazine: Hope in the Healer

https://magazine.wheaton.edu/stories/hope-in-the-healer

Remarks upon Receiving the Roger E Joseph Prize

https://www.rogerejosephprize.org/2015

Jodi Ziemer Obituary

https://vacremationsociety.com/obituary/gene-joanne-jodi-ziemer/

Admiral Tim Ziemer: Rallying the World to Defeat Malaria

https://medium.com/@PMIgov/rallying-the-world-to-defeat-malaria-4c2b63f231e2

New York Times: The Malaria Fighter

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/science/a-quiet-approach-to-bringing-down-malaria.html

PHOTO BY GREG KAHN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES