John F. Cogan is the Leonard and Shirley Ely Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University, where he has had a continuing appointment since 1980.

Cogan is an expert in domestic policy. His current research is focused on US budget and fiscal policy, social security, and health care. He has published widely in professional journals in both economics and political science. His most recent book, Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System (Hoover Institution Press, 2011), coauthored with Glenn Hubbard and Daniel Kessler, recommends federal policy changes to improve US health-care markets.

Cogan has devoted a considerable part of his career to public service. He served as assistant secretary for policy in the US Department of Labor from 1981 to 1983. From 1983 to 1986, he served as associate director in the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB). His responsibilities included developing and reviewing all health, housing, education, and employment training programs and policies.

Cogan has served on numerous congressional, presidential, and California state advisory commissions. He served on the California State Commission on the 21st Century Economy and the California Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission. He served on President George W. Bush's Commission to Strengthen Social Security, the US Bipartisan Commission on Health Care (the Pepper Commission), the Social Security Notch Commission, and the National Academy of Sciences' Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance.

Cogan serves on the board of directors of Gilead Sciences and Venture Lending and Leasing, L.L.C. and on the board of trustees of the Charles Schwab Family of Funds.

Cogan received his AB in 1969 and his PhD in 1976 from the University of California at Los Angeles, both in economics. He was an associate economist at the RAND Corporation from 1975 to 1980. In 1979, Cogan was appointed a national fellow at the Hoover Institution; in 1980 he was appointed a senior research fellow; and in 1984 he became a senior fellow.