Rural Health Policy Leader Keith Mueller Dies at 73

Keith Mueller, PhD, longtime director of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) at the University of Iowa, died September 26 following a brief illness. Over more than three decades, Mueller advised federal agencies including CMS, testified repeatedly before Congress, led the National Rural Health Association, and published over 220 scholarly works on rural health policy. Colleagues credit him with building RUPRI's reputation for nonpartisan, evidence-based analysis that lawmakers from both parties relied on consistently. He also served as interim dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health and mentored generations of rural health researchers.