About The Author

My brother and I attended a British boarding school during my freshman year in high school. My father was a consultant sent to Dusseldorf for a year, and he placed us in the Oratory School. I still have a cricket bat for reasons that are unclear.

During high school, my best friend and I conducted several dubious experiments. We made Napalm. I got a high-level plan for an atomic bomb, under the Freedom of Information Act. We obtained plans to make our own gyrocopter.

The greatest act of rebellion was the publication, in my junior year, by me, and three buddies, of an underground newspaper. I was expelled from high school as a result. I enrolled in Duke rather than spend my senior year at a new high school

At the beginning of my first year at Duke, I tried to join the US Navy submarine fleet. My grandfather said that the Navy would turn me into a “real man.” I wasn’t sure what that meant but it was a good enough reason for me to try to get into ROTC. But the Navy would not take me – I was color blind. I get red-green-brown mixed up and blue-purple seem the same to me. Clearly knowing the difference between a red light and a green light would be important in a submarine.

While at Duke I fell in love with a fellow student, Denise. I was very shy, but she made sure that I was aware of her interest in me. I am extraordinarily grateful for that. We have been together ever since – 50 years. She is the greatest gift I have ever received.

In my last year at Duke (1976 – with an impending bachelor’s degree in mathematics) I had no idea what I wanted to do once I graduated. My classmates seemed so certain. They were going to medical school, business school, or law school. Or had jobs lined up. I was not certain.

In my last semester, I took the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, and Actuarial exams. I wasn’t sure I wanted any of the careers that used these exams. But I figured I’d cover my bases (the test results were good for 5 years) and I would never be this smart again.

My first job out of college was as a “chef” at Pizza Hut. I then went to work at the Bumble Bee Seafood salmon cannery in South Naknek Alaska. I was the Head Cook – I boiled fish heads and fish guts to produce the fish oil that was squirted into the cans of salmon.

When the canning season was over, I had nothing to do so I spent six months on the road, doing a lot of hitchhiking. I worked my way back down to the “Lower 48.” Then to North Carolina to spend two weeks with Denise. I went from there to Los Angeles where I met up with brother Mike and two friends from Alaska and we traveled to Panama on the Central American Highway.

In Honduras, I hitched a ride with an ex-patriot American who asked me to join him in starting up a donut shop in Tegucigalpa. I came within inches of saying yes.

Once I Panama, I decided to return to North Carolina. I was tired of being on the road and I missed Denise. I still did not know what to do with my life but whatever it was I was going to do it with Denise.

I interviewed for jobs and took the first one that made me an offer. I was a programmer/analyst at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) on analysis for a large federal study of healthcare costs and quality. It was my exposure to health care (which was fascinating) and computer systems.

At the encouragement of my stepmother, I enrolled in the PhD program in Healthcare Informatics at the University of Minnesota in 1980. My education was paid for by the National Library of Medicine and I took advantage of a great business school – the Carlson School – at the University.

I am not sure why I wanted a PhD. Being called a “doctor” would be cool and maybe that was the depth of my desire for that degree. I wrote a 467-page dissertation (a real moose) on the impact of information systems on the coordination of tasks in a hospital. I did not advance science much, but I did graduate.

Before we moved to Minnesota, Denise and I were married. We now have three grown daughters and six grandchildren.

After graduate school, I accepted a job as a consultant at Arthur D. Little in 1984 (leading to a move to the suburbs of Boston) in their healthcare information technology practice. Within a year I was running the practice.

I loved Arthur D. Little. Amazingly smart people doing very interesting work for some very impressive clients. But Denise pointed out (correctly) that my constant travel was not conducive to raising a young family, so I became the Chief Information Officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1988.

As a brief synopsis of the next 31 years (1988-2019), in 1995 I became the Chief Information Officer at Partners Healthcare which was an integrated health system founded by the Brigham and Mass General Hospital.

In 2009, I spent a year on “sabbatical” at the federal health and human services department that oversaw healthcare information technology policy and adoption. And I spent five years being the CEO of the healthcare information technology business for Siemens and then five years leading the population health business at Cerner.

During this time, I taught an MBA course on health information technology at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. I became involved in the boards of several professional societies.

I have received numerous industry awards including the John P. Glaser Innovation Award (established by the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, University of Texas), William B. Stead Thought Leadership Award (American Medical Informatics Association) and the Lifetime Achievement Award (College of Healthcare Information Management Executives).

I “retired” at the end of 2019.

Over the years I developed a passion for writing. I have written four books and 200 articles on various topics in the field of digital health. I write a weekly letter to my parents, children, siblings, in-laws and close friends. I have been writing these 4-page letters for 35 years.

I self-published two books (A Father’s Collage and A Father’s Collage – Along for the Ride) which were excerpts from these letters that described time, such as birthday parties and sleep overs, with the kids. I wanted the kids to have a “written” photo album of my time with them.

I have also published a book (101 Questions from my Daughters that is my answer to questions, posed my kids, about my life, values and beliefs.

Currently I am an Executive-in-Residence at Harvard Medical School. I am a director of executive education programs on global healthcare leadership and digital transformation in healthcare.

I serve on the boards of the several digital health startups and health care associations. I am on the faculty of the D. Bradley McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston and the Harvard School of Public Health.

I congratulate you on lasting this long reading this yawn-worthy chronology of my life. These experiences and relationships have led me to develop an answer to the question – if you had only minutes left in your life, what would you want to be able to say about your time on this planet?

My answer is below and serves as a wrap up to this overview of me. I would like to be able to say five things.

• That I was as madly in love with my wife then as I am today. I fell in love with Denise 50 years ago. And I am more in love today. She is my best friend, my lover, the mother of my kids, and my confidant. In ways that are unfathomable and indescribable, in many aspects of our lives and beings, she and I have become one.
• That my three daughters have had lives as blessed as mine. Their paths will have been different, and their choices will have been their own. But I hope that they know deep love, good fortune, success, and many fine moments that have become treasured memories. I would hope that we were always good friends and looked forward to each other’s company. I hope they always know how much their father loves them.
• That I had been spared the agony and horror that can dominate a person’s life. I hope I never have to experience great hunger, deep and enduring physical pain, crushing hatred, or excruciating torment. If I was spared this, I would be grateful. If I was not spared this, I hope that I exhibited courage.
• That those people with whom I worked say that I inspired them, taught them, and led them well. Just as I have been inspired, taught, and led well by several people, I hope that I gave that gift to others. I would like to know that many people are different people, better people because they know me.
• That the healthcare industry in which I work, and the organizations that I work for, have changed, become more effective, and have advanced because of the legacy that I have left. I would like to know that I showed these organizations and industries how to operate and think at a higher level; a level that significantly increases their ability to care for people, innovate and teach.

And if I can say all of this, I will die with a smile on my face. I will have achieved that which matters most in my life.