San Francisco - Thursday, March 12, 2009
Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer

Mr. Calhoun was the chief operating officer of Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, which is headquartered in San Francisco.

"He was a great thinker and strategist for the work we are doing throughout the world, especially in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe," said Mark Cloutier, executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and president of Pangaea. "Michael worked in government and academia and in health care, and he had a unique perspective on how to bring parties together to make things work on the ground."

Mr. Calhoun, who was born in South Carolina and graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, was the youngest vice chairman of the International Trade Commission.

During President George H.W. Bush's administration, Mr. Calhoun served as chief of staff to Dr. Louis Sullivan, head of the Department of Health and Human Services. He helped to oversee a $625 billion budget and some 65,000 employees, and in a federal effort to study the impact of AIDS, Mr. Calhoun helped lead the first Cabinet-level visit to Africa.

He served as vice president of strategic marketing and planning for Stanford Hospital and was also an adviser to the National Institutes of Health, and to health care groups in Japan and South Africa. He was a trustee on numerous nonprofit boards.

Mr. Calhoun joined Pangaea in 2007. His widow, Kathy J. Williams, said he considered it the culmination of his life's work.

"It represented everything he wanted to give back to society," she said. "He had a deep interest in people, particularly in their health. At Pangaea, he was able to bring people together to work toward a higher purpose."

He helped develop a program in Tanzania and Zimbabwe training young HIV-positive women to become health care workers.

"They were facing a lot of stigma but now they are getting a skill and adding to their country's health care workforce," said Cloutier.

Mr. Calhoun also helped launch an HIV response in South Africa.

"He had such a desire to make a contribution to humanity," said Dr. Eric Goosby, Pangaea's chief executive and chief medical officer. "So many of us here are HIV docs and nurses. Michael added business expertise - he ratcheted us up, and made us more sustainable."

Mr. Calhoun was diagnosed in 2007 with thymic carcinoma, a rare type of tumor. He died Feb. 24.

Survivors include his widow, Kathy; son Jordan; daughter McCall; parents Leon and Aileen Calhoun; and brother Anthony Calhoun.

The family requests that donations be sent to Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, 995 Market St., Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94103.

E-mail Elizabeth Fernandez at efernandez@sfchronicle.com.
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