National CORE and Hope through Housing Foundation will honor Dr. Richard Hart, president emeritus of Loma Linda University Health, with the 2026 Daniel R. Fauske Founders Award, recognizing more than five decades of leadership dedicated to improving the health and well-being of people and communities.
The Fauske award is named in honor of a visionary whose life’s work changed the landscape of affordable housing. It celebrates leaders whose courage, innovation and deep compassion have shaped a legacy of lasting impact.
Hart recently retired after 18 years as president of Loma Linda University Health, following seven years as university chancellor and 11 years as dean of the School of Public Health. Throughout his career, he has championed an approach to health that recognizes the importance of addressing the broader conditions affecting people’s lives.
“The process of engaging with human need and using that to guide your professional activities has been key to my personal life,” Hart said.
That philosophy has taken Hart from communities in Tanzania to health institutions around the world. He was the founding president of Adventist Health International and has helped shape programs that connect future health professionals with communities in need.
Closer to home, Hart’s belief that health depends on the strength of the entire community created a natural connection with National CORE and its work to provide affordable housing and resident services.
“Health is an essential part of development, but is not sufficient by itself,” Hart said. “You have to have the other components. You have to have housing.”
Hart has seen National CORE’s housing mission and Loma Linda’s health mission as complementary pieces of the same effort, with each organization bringing its expertise to improving the lives of vulnerable residents.
“As we look to try to add the health component into that, it’s a natural marriage,” Hart said. “That is a true synergy for development.”
“Dr. Hart has spent his career demonstrating that truly healthy communities require us to care about the whole person and the conditions in which they live,” said Jeff Burum, Founder and Chairman of National CORE. “His vision of service and his commitment to people who too often find themselves at the margins closely reflect the principles that have guided National CORE and Hope through Housing from the beginning.”
Hart said he views the Founders Award as recognition of that shared commitment.
“I perceive this award as an award given to Loma Linda and what we do, not to me personally so much,” Hart said. “Loma Linda is committed to the kind of principles and goals that National CORE espouses. We try to bring in the health component, and together we try to make a better world.”
Hart will receive the 2026 Daniel R. Fauske Founders Award during Hope through Housing’s 2026 An Evening of Hope, set for Oct. 9, 2026.
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