Faculty

A powerful partnership of faculty and alumni supports students in their studies and careers. Minnesota's core faculty are nationally recognized for ongoing research into vital healthcare issues. Affiliated faculty represent the wide spectrum of the healthcare industry. Current grants total more than $3.5 million for research into healthcare information systems, managed care, quality improvement in long-term care organizations, and Alzheimer’s services.

Core Faculty

Minnesota's core faculty are nationally recognized for ongoing research into vital healthcare issues. Current grants total more than $3.5 million for research into healthcare information systems, managed care, quality improvement in long-term care organizations, and Alzheimer's services.

	Jean Abraham, Assistant Professor, specializes in health economics and policy, industrial organization and applied econometrics. Her current research focuses on household demand for employer-based health insurance and the relationship between local hospital market structure and competition.
	James Begun is the James A. Hamilton Term Professor. His most recent research project focused on strategic adaptation in the health professions. He also studies the structure and performance of complex healthcare organizations and systems. Professor Begun serves on ACEHSA, the accrediting agency for health administration programs.
	Jon Christianson is the James A. Hamilton Chair in Health Policy and Management. Professor Christianson, who holds a Ph.D. in Economics, is one of the top scholars in the nation in the area of managed care. He has published seven books and over 100 journal articles, received the 1995 annual research award from the National Institute for Health Care Management, and acted as former director of the HCFA Research Center at the University of Minnesota.
	Bright Dornblaser, Professor Emeritus, is a Fellow of ACHE, and past president of AUPHA. In a collaborative research study with the faculty of the Department of Strategic Management, he focuses on innovative, developing healthcare organizations.
	Susan Foote, Professor, has focused her research on the influences of public policies on health care services, with a particular emphasis on innovation in medical technology. She is the author of Managing the Medical Arms Race: Innovation and Public Policy in the Medical Device Industry as well as numerous articles on technology policy. She is Director of the Medical Technology Leadership Forum at the School of Public Health, and serves on the CMS’ Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee.
	Leslie Grant, Associate Professor, teaches and conducts research on the organization, financing and delivery of long-term care services. His current research includes Alzheimer Special Care Units in nursing homes, dementia care in alternative care facilities, and evaluation of the "service house" model of supportive housing for frail elderly. He has numerous publications about long-term care, health services research, and environment and aging.
	Ayse Gürses, Assistant Professor, conducts research in human factors engineering in healthcare. Her current research focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of information technology to improve coordination, communication, teamwork and patient safety in healthcare organizations; the impact of work system design on clinical workload, quality of working life, and patient safety; and socio-technical aspects of healthcare information technology.
	Theodor Litman, Professor Emeritus, is a medical sociologist, and a Fellow of the American Sociological Association and the American Public Health Association. His research includes studies of the politics of health, the role of the family in health and healthcare, physician and patient behavior, and long-term care for the elderly.
	Gordon Mosser, M.D., is an Associate Professor. His teaching and research interests are health care quality improvement, leadership, teamwork, organizational behavior, and evidence-based health care. He trained in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota (1973-76) and is board-certified. Dr. Mosser joined the Division of Health Policy and Management in 2006 after 30 years in clinical practice and health care management.
	John Nyman, Professor, has research interests in nursing home behavior and long-term care policy, the theory of insurance and health insurance, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis, especially of new health care technologies and drugs, the behavior of physicians, and gambling as a public health issue. His research and theory papers have appeared in almost all of the prominent health economics and health services research journals.
	Sandra Potthoff, Associate Professor, teaches operations research in healthcare. Her research interests explore decision analytic models for improving health service delivery, computerized decision support for health policy and planning, and decision support for decision-making by patients. She is Director of the MHA Program.
	William Riley, Associate Professor and Associate Division Head, has held the position of president and CEO of several health care organizations, including Pacific Medical Center, Seattle; an integrated health care delivery system; a large multi-specialty medical group in Minnesota; and a health plan joint venture. He has extensive experience leading health care organizations and working with medical groups, managed care, quality improvement, and outcomes assessment. He has also implemented numerous process improvement projects and financing mechanisms.
	Robert Town, Associate Professor, has expertise in the areas of health economics, industrial organization and applied econometrics. His research focuses on competition in the health care marketplace. Dr. Town has studied the impact of hospital network formation on competitive outcomes, the role of competition in determining hospital quality and the appropriate antitrust policy in health care and health insurance markets. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
	Vernon Weckwerth, Professor, teaches contemporary problems in healthcare delivery, statistics, research, and quantitative methods. At the American Hospital Association he was head of statistics and research, and associate director of the Hospital Research and Educational Trust. He directs the ISP Program - the Alternative Studies Option. The ISP program is geared toward employed administrators from the US as well as abroad.