George Barrett

George S. Barrett is a nationally recognized healthcare industry leader with a distinguished career as an executive in global corporations. As the founder of The Overtone Group, he advises companies and nonprofit organizations, mentors senior executives, teaches the next generation of leaders, and is a frequent speaker on leadership and healthcare.

Barrett serves as a director on multiple boards, including Target Corporation, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and The Conference Board. He co-chairs a National Academy of Medicine initiative on climate and human health, serves as a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development, and sits on the governing committee of The Columbus Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the United States. A recording artist and songwriter, he is also a trustee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and has released two albums, Not Alone (2023) and Rearrange Things (2025).

He is a visiting professor of practice and senior fellow at New York University’s Stern School of Business, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and serves as a governor of Brown University’s Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs.

Barrett retired from Cardinal Health, a Fortune 20 multi-national healthcare services and products company, in November 2018, after serving as chairman and CEO for nearly a decade. During his tenure, Cardinal Health was recognized as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, Forbes America’s Best Employers, and received numerous awards for its public health, corporate social responsibility, and philanthropic initiatives. Barrett was personally recognized multiple times by Institutional Investor as a Top CEO on the All-America Executive Team and as a Top CEO in the annual Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards.

Prior to Cardinal Health, Barrett held senior positions, including president, at multiple global pharmaceutical companies. He previously served on the boards of the Fourth District of the Federal Reserve Bank, Eaton Corporation, and National Resilience, and as a member of President Obama’s White House Business Council. He chaired the boards of the Healthcare Leadership Council and the Association for Accessible Medicines (formerly GPIA). He also served on the executive committee of Columbus Partnership, a non-profit organization of CEOs focused on the economic vitality of the region; as co-chair, with the mayor, of the Columbus Education Commission to make recommendations for improving the public school system; and on the board of the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety.

Barrett graduated from Brown University with a dual concentration in history and music and earned an M.B.A. from New York University. He is a trustee emeritus of Brown, a member of the Brown Athletic Hall of Fame. He has received multiple honorary doctorates, as well as the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and Peter G. Peterson Business Statesmanship Award, among others, recognizing his dedication to community service and the public good.