John has 16+ years of progressive leadership leading academic medical institutions where he has successfully developed and implemented non-traditional, cross-disciplinary approaches to delivering health and wellness services.  He is currently Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, Student Health Director, and Associate Professor of Family Medicine & Community Health at Duke University.

As a Senior Leader in Student Affairs and Academic Medical Departments, John has worked extensively in multifunctional health and wellness teams that include medical, counseling and psychological, nutrition, case management, health promotion, academic, and specialty referral stakeholders to create transformative health and wellness experiences at the individual and population levels.  Driven by a strong belief that modern healthcare must remain rooted in a humanistic approach while constantly evolving its conception of how and where patients are best served, the driving force of John’s career is the development of innovative strategies for optimizing care delivery and patient access, while ensuring that clinician wellbeing remains an integral part of an organization’s mission. Overseeing the administration of a health insurance plan with over 8,000 enrollees has enabled him to see the challenges facing patients and clinicians in our current healthcare system from multiple vantage points.  The opportunity to be involved in the design of a new 72,000 square foot wellness center, from initial conception through final construction, gave him unparalleled insight into how physical space impacts overall wellbeing.  Working in an environment with highly visible and often acute constituent responsiveness demands, particularly during the COVID pandemic, has provided him with significant insight into the challenges of meeting the needs of a culturally and generationally diverse work force and student population in crisis. 

John earned his Bachelor of Arts in English and Doctor of Medicine degrees from The Ohio State University.  His academic interest lies in the field of Narrative Medicine, specifically how the development of narrative competence informs and enhances medical education, clinician wellness, and patient outcomes.  He served as Executive Editor of the Journal of American College Health for six years and is the co-editor of the textbook Principles and Practice of College Health.  His writing on the doctor-patient relationship has appeared in national publications and been anthologized in a college-level Composition and Rhetoric textbook.  John currently resides with his family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina