New Trustees’ Health Education Innovation and Financial Acumen Will Strategically Expand RMU’s Work to Meet the Nation’s Healthcare Workforce Needs
As Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) continues to lead in innovation and excellence in health education and practice, it has announced the appointment of James Suel and Dr. Roy Zwahlen to the RMU Board of Trustees.
“RMU and the Board of Trustees are fortunate to welcome these two talented individuals who come with years of expertise, experience, and national insights to assist RMU in meeting the graduate educational healthcare needs of our nation,” said Dr. Michael Skurja, Jr., Chair of the RMU Board of Trustees.
James Suel:

James Suel has been a senior financial leader and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for more than 45 years, including 10 years as CFO at a Fortune 200 company. He brings extensive financial and accounting background with experience in a wide range of businesses, including growth companies, turnarounds, start-ups, private equity and Big-Four public accounting.
“Suel brings an impressive background in accounting and finance and will assist the Board as it makes strategic decisions and builds upon RMU’s 26 successful years,” Dr. Skurja said.
Suel’s financial acumen in end-to-end processes, operations, treasury, risk management, and raising capital will complement RMU’s short and long-term investments to help every student succeed.
“Rocky Mountain University’s goals, values, and commitments align with my personal values of being part of a group dedicated to making a difference in healthcare and community engagement,” Suel said. “I’m honored to join this talented team to bring my background in accounting, finance, and healthcare to drive RMU’s growth towards education and training within the healthcare market and the communities it serves.”
Dr. Roy Zwahlen:

Dr. Roy Zwahlen has an extensive background in health education innovation. Currently, he serves as the Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Risk Management at The University of North Carolina (UNC) Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the Chief Strategy Officer at Eshelman Innovation.
“From its founding, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions has been an innovative institution, looking at the latest methods of teaching and operations,” Dr. Skurja said. “Dr. Zwahlen will help keep RMU at the forefront of strategic innovation as we look ahead to expanding our offerings and operations to meet the nation’s healthcare workforce needs.”
At Eshelman Innovation, Dr. Zwahlen builds strategy and manages the operations that deploys approximately $26MM programmatically each year across therapeutics and digital health programs. For the school, Dr. Zwahlen leads strategic planning and oversees risk management and compliance functions specifically designed to enable innovation and build strategic partnerships to help drive translation of key education, research, and practice innovation.
“Having the opportunity to help advance the inspiring mission of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions is thrilling,” Dr. Zwahlen said. “RMU is perfectly positioned to advance healthcare throughout the nation further and I’m grateful to be able to leverage my background in business strategy, launching new academic programs, and experiential practice to help the students, faculty and staff at this dynamic institution achieve continued success.”