Stuart A. Wesbury Jr. will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Missouri at the May 17, 2025, College of Health Sciences commencement ceremony in Mizzou Arena.

The University of Missouri awards honorary doctorates to individuals of exceptional distinction who have provided outstanding service to the University of Missouri, the state of Missouri, the United States or to humanity at large. Honorary doctorates are Mizzou’s highest form of recognition.

Stuart A. Wesbury Jr. has served with distinction in many roles over the course of a long and distinguished career in health care administration, academia and leadership.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Temple University, a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate from the University of Florida. In between these degrees, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and then as an executive in several hospitals, leading to his appointment as the director of the University of Florida’s Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics. Wesbury then brought these many years of hospital administration experience to the University of Missouri, where he served as the director and professor in the graduate program for health services management.

Wesbury oversaw great growth in the program, expanding its reach through health planning initiatives across four states. He helped foster relationships with Missouri hospitals, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and the University of Missouri’s Center for Health Services Research. His influence is still felt through the master of health administration program offered through the College of Health Sciences and a professorship at the college in his name.

He moved on to national leadership as the president and CEO of the American College of Hospital Administrators, leading the organization — which was renamed in 1984 to the American College of Healthcare Executives — for 13 years and overseeing membership growth from 10,000 to nearly 20,000 members.

Wesbury returned to academia in 1994 as a research professor at Arizona State University’s School of Health Administration and Policy and went on to serve as director of the executive education programs at ASU’s College of Business.

Wesbury served in many leadership roles outside of academia. He was chairman of the board for Blood Systems, Inc. and was actively involved in the American Public Health Association, the American Association of Healthcare Consultants and the Pennsylvania Council on Aging. He has been recognized with numerous honors, including induction into the Association for University Programs in Health Administration Hall of Fame and Modern Healthcare’s National Health Care Hall of Fame.