Title: Chief Medical Examiner and Forensic Pathologist
Employer: City and County of Denver
Prior Positions: Medical Officer, US Navy (for 30 years)

After finishing his undergraduate degree in Biology, Jim stayed at Illinois for his MD from the College of Medicine. Jim was on a Navy Health Professions Scholarship for medical school so upon graduation he headed off to an internship at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. During a 30-year career in the Navy Jim practiced shipboard medicine, diving and submarine medicine, aviation medicine, hospital based pathology, and forensic pathology. He was a Diving Medical Officer with the Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit for three years and cared for Navy Divers and SEALs. Jim completed a residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology along with a fellowship in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine at Duke University Medical Center and his Forensic Pathology training was at the Maryland Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore. He is board certified in all of these medical specialties.

Jim has performed autopsies all over the world including hostile environments like Iraq. He also served in administrative medicine roles, supervising numerous departments and groups of departments in military hospitals, including overseas facilities. He has dozens of peer-reviewed scientific papers to his credit as well as numerous book chapters. Upon retirement from the Navy, Jim was appointed Chief Medical Examiner and Coroner for Denver, Colorado where he runs a medical examiner office for a large city and is faculty for the local medical schools. He has personally performed over 3,000 autopsies and supervised an equal or greater number.

Jim is also a rabid hockey fan, particularly when it comes to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Jim would be a great person to talk to about non-traditional health care paths, forensics, pathology, or serving with the Navy. Contact Christina Swanson at alumnimentor@sib.illinois.edu if you would like to connect with Jim.