--- description: TIME 100 honoree Bernard J. Tyson delivered a toast at the TIME 100 Gala title: Watch Bernard J. Tyson's Toast Paying Tribute to His Father at the TIME 100 Gala image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51eae4fa11e6ba12/6988caaa196cf4e0d903fd66/bernard-j-tyson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [TIME 100](/tag/time-100/) ## TIME 100 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Bernard J. Tyson's Toast Paying Tribute to His Father at the TIME 100 Gala by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 26, 2017 2:48 AM CUT  Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard J. Tyson (L) and Denise Bradley-Tyson attend the 2017 Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2017 in New York City. Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard J. Tyson (L) and Denise Bradley-Tyson attend the 2017 Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2017 in New York City.Jemal Countess—Getty Images for TIME by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 26, 2017 2:48 AM CUT Health advocate [Bernard J. Tyson](http://time.com/collection-post/4742745/bernard-j-tyson/ "undefined"), named one of the world’s most influential people on the [2017 TIME 100 list](http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/ "undefined"), paid tribute to his father during a moving speech at the [TIME 100 Gala](http://time.com/4753230/time-100-gala-red-carpet-photos-2017/ "undefined"). “My father was a wonderful male image for me. He was a strong individual. He was mighty. He was a preacher. He was a carpenter. He was a man of few words, but he always had wisdom and insights,” he said. Tyson, a public health advocate and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, one of the country’s largest nonprofit health plans, has served the medical needs of over 11.3 million people. With a focus on preventative care and accessibility to the public, Tyson has advocated for getting rid of health care disparities among individuals. Through his leadership at Kaiser, the health care provider’s 200,000 employees and 20,000 physicians have delivered great clinical outcomes. In talking about his father, Tyson touched on his earlier career at Kaiser when he wanted to show his parents his success. Tyson shared that he impressed his father with a visit to the beach, and tried to temper his enthusiasm by saying: “I have problems like everybody.” “My father pondered that for a couple of seconds, and he said, ‘This is true, but the difference is, people like you can take your problems to places like this.’ And I’ve kept that lesson all of my life,” Tyson said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4752345/bernard-j-tyson-time-100-gala/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4752345/bernard-j-tyson-time-100-gala/"},"headline":"Watch Bernard J. Tyson's Toast Paying Tribute to His Father at the TIME 100 Gala","datePublished":"2017-04-26T02:48:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:15:17.432Z","description":"TIME 100 honoree Bernard J. 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