The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is pleased to announce that Michael (Mike) McGovern, Chair of the International PolioPlus Committee, Rotary International, will serve as the next Chair of the Polio Oversight Board (POB), effective January 1, 2026.  

 After five years of dedicated service as the GPEI’s POB Chair, Dr. Chris Elias, President of Global Development, Gates Foundation, will hand over the role. We extend our deep gratitude to Dr. Elias for his unwavering commitment and strategic leadership in advancing the global fight against polio. During his time as POB Chair, the program made immense progress, from closing an imported wild poliovirus outbreak in Malawi and Mozambique to rolling out 2 billion doses of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 to more sustainably stop outbreaks of type 2 variant poliovirus.     

 We are pleased to welcome Mr. McGovern as the incoming POB Chair. Mr. McGovern brings decades of experience and passion for polio eradication, and we look forward to his guidance as we accelerate efforts toward a polio-free world. In 1985, Rotary International launched the global effort to end polio, and Rotarians around the world have been at the heart of the effort since. [placeholder for additional details on Mike’s professional history]   

 “It has been an honor to serve as Chair of the Polio Oversight Board. Together we have made significant progress, and I am confident that under Mike McGovern’s leadership, the GPEI will continue to make strides, protecting children from polio’s devastating consequences,” said Dr. Chris Elias.  

 “I am humbled to take on this role and build on the incredible work of Dr. Elias and the GPEI partners. Together, we can end polio once and for all,” said Mike McGovern.  

 About Michael K. McGovern 

Mike McGovern has chaired the Rotary International PolioPlus Committee since October 2014. He has represented Rotary on the Polio Oversight Board since 2018 and formerly chaired its Finance Accountability Committee.  He made his first financial contribution for polio eradication in 1988.  

He joined Rotary in 1986 as a member of the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA. He has served in many Rotary positions including as a director and vice president of Rotary International and as a trustee and vice chair of the Rotary Foundation.    

 Other volunteer service include terms as president of the Maine Municipal Association and of the  Maine Town and City Association, chair of ecomaine which is the state’s largest recycler, chair of the Rotary Action Group for Family Health and AIDS Prevention, global chair of the Rotary Leadership Institute and he served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service from which he had earned a Master’s in Public Policy and Management prior to it being named as the Muskie School.   

He served his entire professional career with the Town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine USA beginning as an intern in 1977 and serving as the chief appointed officer (town manager) for 31 years until his retirement in 2016.