Tim Cunningham, RN, DrPH, MSN, FAAN

Additional Titles

Vice President of Practice and Innovation
Emory Healthcare

Adjunct Associate Professor
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Biography

Tim Cunningham is Vice President and Co-Chief Well-Being Officer at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. He also holds a joint appointment as adjunct associate professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory. He joined Emory’s team in 2019. Tim collaborates with interprofessional teams to support structural and systemic well-being change for healthcare teams and professionals, university staff and faculty, researchers, learners, and community members.  

Before becoming an executive leader, Cunningham worked as a performing artist and also humanitarian clown with various regional U.S. theatre organizations. He has also performed with Clowns without Borders and the Big Apple Circus. He then transitioned his career to nursing. 

He studied nursing at the University of Virginia and has practiced emergency/trauma nursing clinically for seven years at the University of Virginia, Children’s National Medical Center, and New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. During the West Africa Ebola outbreak, he worked as a frontline nurse with the organization, Partners in Health.  

In 2016, he completed his Doctorate of Public Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health focusing on resilience, well-being, and compassion. Prior to his work at Emory, he served as Director of the University of Virginia’s Compassionate Care Initiative while serving a joint appointment at UVA’s School of Nursing and Department of Drama. His more than 50 publications, 3 books on self-care and a children’s book on resilience, center around ideas of well-being, compassion, and fostering creativity.