PhD, Philosophy (Medical Ethics)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville · 2001
About
A career shaped by practical philosophy
My work has been guided by a simple conviction: ethics is most valuable when it helps people and institutions make wiser decisions.
I am a philosopher and bioethicist whose career has brought together scholarship, teaching, public service, and institutional leadership. Across academic medical centers, federal agencies, an independent institutional review board, and a national healthcare system, I have worked to clarify difficult ethical questions and to strengthen the structures through which people make consequential decisions.
My scholarship began in reproductive ethics, religious ethics, and research ethics. Over time, it expanded toward questions of organizational ethics, professional integrity, public health, institutional governance, and the responsibilities of healthcare and research institutions. Throughout, I have remained interested in the relationship between ethical theory and professional practice.
Teaching and mentorship have been equally central to my work. I have taught undergraduate students, graduate students, medical trainees, nurses, public health professionals, and allied health students, and I have developed curricula and programs intended to make ethics both intellectually rigorous and practically consequential.
Education
MA, Philosophy (Medical Ethics)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville · 1997
BA, Philosophy and Religious Studies; Minor in Chemistry
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · 1995
Employment
University of Tennessee
Graduate education
Completed graduate study in philosophy, developing the intellectual foundations of my scholarship in reproductive ethics, religious ethics, and bioethics.
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Faculty
Joined the faculty in the College of Medicine—and later the College of Public Health—where interdisciplinary work with physicians, nurses, researchers, and public health professionals refined my approach to ethics education across professional boundaries.
Emory University
Faculty and program leadership
Continued teaching and mentoring in an academic medical environment while directing graduate bioethics education and developing ethics education for learners across the university.
Prime Review Board
Director
Served as Director of an independent institutional review board, applying research ethics directly to the review and governance of human-subjects research.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Federal research ethics leadership
Led research ethics work across the agency and represented the EPA in interagency collaborations throughout the federal government.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Executive Director
Served as Executive Director of the National Center for Ethics in Health Care, providing national leadership in ethics policy, consultation, education, and organizational ethics.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Distinguished Professor
Joined the Department of Philosophy as Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Ethics, bringing together scholarship, teaching, mentorship, and institutional engagement.
Honors and Awards
- Elected as a Hastings Center Fellow, 2025
- U.S. EPA Bronze Medal for Commendable Service, 2014
- Arkansas Medical Society Distinguished Lecturer, 2012
- University of Nebraska Medical Center Excellence in Teaching Award, 2009
- Educational Scholars Program, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 2005–2007