John Glaser

I am a semi-retired Executive in Residence at Harvard Medical School. I direct executive education programs in global health care leadership and digital transformation in healthcare. Prior to this role I held several executive roles in the field of applying information technology to improve health and healthcare.

Before I began my career (which took a while to figure out), I hitchhiked from Fairbanks to the Panama Canal through North Carolina, graduated from clown school and worked on a trail crew in the Pacific Northwest.

I am married. My wife and I have been together for 50 years having met as students at Duke. We have three grown daughters and six grandchildren.

We live in the Boston area.

I love writing.

I write a letter (4 pages long) every week, to my extended family. I have done this for 35 years. These letters cover a wide range of topics – family time, professional activities, world events, and topics I find interesting such as whether all planets have seasons.

I took a couple of five-year blocks of letters and excerpted the portions of the letters that captured moments with our three daughters when they were young. I published two books that contain these extracts (about 100 scenes for each book). These books are A Father’s Collage and A Father’s Collage: Along for the Ride.

The result is a scrapbook of memories of them. Memories that are often unremarkable in their significance or uniqueness. I wanted to let my daughters know that this is what I remember as they grew up. The books are a written photo album.

For the last 2 years, every week my three adult daughters asked a question about my life.

What were you like as a teenager? Who inspires you? What was one of the most difficult things you have ever done? What things matter most to you in life? What is your definition of love?

The book 101 Questions from my Daughters contains my answers to those questions.

At his memorial service, I realized how little I knew about my father’s life and his beliefs, values and insights. I want my daughters to be able to say, “I know him.” Hence the book.

I won’t surprise you that I have written professional articles and books. Over the course of a 40-year career, I have written 200 articles and 4 books on a range of topics in the field of applying digital technology to improve health and health care.