Johnson Jr, James

Biography

Dr. James A. Johnson is a medical social scientist who specializes in international health systems and organizational development. He is a Professor of health administration and policy in the School of Health Sciences where he teaches comparative health systems, organizational behavior, international health, and systems thinking in the Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) Program.

Dr. Johnson is the former Chairman of the Department of Health Administration and Policy at Medical University of South Carolina where he was the founder of the first DHA program in the United States. He is also an active researcher and health science writer with over 100 journal articles and 15 books published. One of his recent books, Comparative Health Systems: Global Perspectives, provides an analysis of the health systems of 20 different countries. He is also co-editor of the 3rd edition of Public Health Administration: Principles of Population-Based Management and author of the newly published Introduction to Public Health Management, Organizations, and Policy.  Dr. Johnson is the past-editor of the Journal of Healthcare Management published by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and is currently a Contributing Editor for the Journal of Health and Human Services Administration. He also works closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) and ProWorld Service Corps on international projects. He is a Regular Delegate to the World Public Health Federation Congress and a member of the Global Health Council. 

His work and travels have taken him to 35 countries often involving students in international service learning and research projects. Dr. Johnson has been an invited lecturer at Oxford University (England); Beijing University (China); University of Dublin (Ireland); University of Colima (Mexico); and University of Pretoria (South Africa), as well as, many universities and colleges in the United States.  He is a regular Visiting Professor at St. Georges University (Grenada) and University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). Additionally, he has served on numerous boards including the Board of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA); the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Diabetes Trust Foundation; the Advisory Board of the Joint Africa Working Group; the Board of Directors of the Africa Research and Development Center; and Board of Advisors for Health Systems of America. He has been a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Center for Leadership and Public Policy; completed a Master of Public Administration in health administration and policy at Auburn University; Master of Science at University of South Alabama; and Ph.D. at the Askew School of Public Policy and Administration, Florida State University.