Dr. David B. Nash to Receive Honorary Degree and Deliver Spring Commencement Address

David B. Nash, MD, MBA, founding dean of Jefferson College of Population Health (JCPH) at Thomas Jefferson University, will deliver Salus University’s commencement address on Thursday, May 25 at 2 p.m. at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. During the ceremony addressing the Salus University Class of 2017, he will be presented with an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, the highest degree awarded by the University. 

“I am grateful to be the commencement speaker and a recipient of an honorary degree from Salus University, an organization that embraces the change occurring in higher education and healthcare,” said Dr. Nash. “Medicine has become a collaborative field, and there is a need for innovation, research and education to continuously weave throughout clinical services. Because of the experience with interprofessional teams at Salus, these students are a step ahead, and have the tools to greatly influence our healthcare system.”

Dr. Nash’s appointment as founding dean of JCPH in 2008 capped his 25-year tenure on the faculty of Thomas Jefferson University. He is also the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy. A board-certified internist, Dr. Nash is internationally recognized for his work in public accountability for outcomes, physician leadership development and quality-of-care-improvement, and has been named to Modern Healthcare’s list of Most Powerful Persons in Healthcare numerous times. He has a wide scope of pro bono national activities including: principal faculty member for Quality of Care programming for the American Association of Physician Leaders; member of the National Quality Forum task force on Improving Population Health; founding member of the American Association of Medical College's Integrating Quality Steering Committee; and chair of the Technical Advisory Group of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. 

“We are honored to have Dr. Nash deliver the keynote address at our spring commencement and are proud to award him an honorary degree,” said Dr. Michael Mittelman, Salus University president. “He will offer our students a unique perspective on how healthcare providers, such as our graduates working within an integrated healthcare system, will impact the delivery and outcomes of healthcare around the world.” 

Dr. Nash has served in both the not-for-profit and for-profit healthcare sector. Currently, he is on the board of Main Line Health where he also chairs the board committee on Quality and Safety. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Population Health Alliance (formerly DMAA). In the for-profit sector, Dr. Nash was named to the Board of Directors for Humana, Inc. in 2009. In October 2013 he joined the board of Vestagen Technical Textiles, a privately held advanced medical textile company and the board of InfoMC, a leading information technology company.  He is also on the Arsenal Capital Partners healthcare advisory board.                                                                                                                                         

Dr. Nash received his BA in economics (Phi Beta Kappa) from Vassar College; his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and his MBA in Health Administration (with honors) from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. While at Penn, he was a former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar and Medical Director of a nine-physician faculty group practice in general internal medicine.