Erik Augustson to Direct FSFW Programs

The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) has appointed Erik Augustson as vice president of programs, responsible for management and oversight of the foundation’s global grantmaking portfolio.

In this new role, Augustson is poised to elevate the grant program, ensuring the foundation’s strategic priorities are addressed by overseeing the strategy, development and implementation of all programmatic work, including research strategy and grant generation.

Throughout his career, Augustson has made contributions within academic, clinical medicine, federal government and private sector contexts. For the past two decades, he has been a driving force in advancing population-level and public health interventions on both domestic and international fronts.

Notably, Augustson played a pivotal role in the development and leadership of the large-scale U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mobile health and behavior change program, Smokefree.gov.

In addition to those achievements, Augustson is recognized as a mentor and senior leader, known for his human-focused management style. His commitment to research, intervention program development, evaluation and management has earned him accolades and positioned him as a respected figure in the field.

“I am delighted to welcome Erik as the leader of this new team at the foundation,” said FSFW CEO Cliff Douglas in a statement. We have ambitious objectives to elevate the strength of our grantmaking and to diversify our partnerships and sources of funding. Erik’s experience delivering the highest-quality programs for the public and private sectors will be a great help in those endeavors.”

An alumnus of the University of New Mexico, Augustson holds two master’s degrees and a doctorate in psychology. He also completed two postdoctoral fellowships—one in behavioral medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine and the other in epidemiology and cancer prevention at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.