Nate Wade

Nate Wade serves as the Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Arizona State University (ASU). He is also a Research Assistant Professor for the College of Health Solutions (CHS). With progressive leadership roles spanning more than twenty years in higher education at three R1 institutions, Nate has committed himself to the advancement of social outcomes as well as academic disciplines in STEM, health, and health care. He is responsible for advancing complex strategic priorities and initiatives of the Office of the COO. Nate enjoys fast-paced, high-energy environments that encourage creative solutions for real-world problems. To accomplish his goals, he leverages his knowledge and expertise, bringing additional skills including strategic planning, project management, quantitative data analysis, market research, website development, grant writing, marketing and communications, and relationship development with alumni, donors, and community partners. 

Nate’s faculty position as a Research Assistant Professor allows him to conduct use-inspired research in a variety of topics including diagnostics, Indigenous health equity, and representative health workforce development. As a PI, Co-PI, or key personnel, his research and initiatives have received funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Tohono O’odham Nation, the Genentech Innovation Fund, and The Burton Family Foundation. During the pandemic, Nate’s research was featured in multiple media outlets including ABC, CBS Evening News, CNBC, CNN, Forbes Magazine, Fox, Health Affairs, National Geographic, NBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. His research was also cited by the World Economic Forum and appeared in OSHA’s Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rules.

Prior to joining the Office of the COO, Nate served as Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for ASU Health where he served as the primary lead for designing and launching the School of Technology for Public Health and a new health workforce development initiative. Prior to joining ASU Health, Nate served for a decade within the College of Health Solutions with his final position being Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation. As Executive Director, he co-led the college’s COVID-19 response which included building the COVID Diagnostic Commons as well as organizing and facilitating the ASU National COVID-19 Diagnostics Summit, the ASU Indigenous Health Summit, and the Doing Research in Indigenous Communities conference. His portfolio included multiple college-wide strategic initiatives and special projects related to student success, academic planning, and project management. He directed the Design and Innovation Studio for Health (DISH) team which focused on advancing strategic priorities for the college including Military and Veterans health, precision health, human performance, systems of health and health care, Indigenous health, Community Health Worker (CHW) training, and heat and health.

Nate is committed to student success, and he has facilitated increases in student enrollment, retention, and graduation outcomes, created innovative approaches to academic and pre-health advising, and built pre-college/pathway, bridge, and residential college programs. Within the area of academic planning, he increased undergraduate and graduate degree offerings, expanded programs to multiple campuses (including online), established the pre-health office on the downtown Phoenix campus, designed and built the university’s pre-health website, and used data to identify unmet market needs to inform program planning decisions.

He is devoted to the health and well-being of the communities he serves and has extensive experience in disaster relief, emergency management, and student crisis management. He received Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) training which prepared him to lead volunteer relief efforts following natural disasters including F-5 tornadoes and hurricanes. While working at Louisiana State University (LSU) during Hurricane Katrina, he was committed to helping displaced individuals alongside clinicians at the largest triage center and acute care field hospital in U.S. history. At the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Nate served as a member of the university-wide CARE Team which helped find solutions for students experiencing academic, social, and crisis situations including mental health concerns.

Nate values and dedicates himself to inclusive excellence and building a representative health workforce for the future. Ten years ago, he co-founded the Summer Health Institute at ASU which is an immersive, interactive introduction to health careers for high school students - many of whom are first-generation, Pell-eligible, or underrepresented in the health professions. He also co-created two large-scale diversity programs while at UAB which were nominated for the UAB President’s Diversity Award. He served on the Committee for Diversity and Inclusion for the Western Association for the Health Professions (WAAHP), the Diversity Committee for LSU Housing, the Inclusive Excellence Council in CHS, and the gender/equity subcommittee for the UAB Athletics Advisory Committee.