John McGrath

As Vice Chairman, Dr. McGrath brings extensive experience in strategic policy communication and healthcare consultation to The Hawthorn Group.

Dr. McGrath has served as a consultant on crisis consultation and intelligence issues to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of State, and as a Policy Advisor to the Office of the Surgeon General. He has also served as a member of, or consultant to, numerous federal and state commissions, and as an advisor to several governors.

He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the New West in Denver, Colorado, where he served as Executive Director of the Center’s Policy Council, and is the Senior Policy Advisor to the Health Accountability Foundation, in New York State. He served as the health policy advisor in the first Clinton presidential campaign and was a member of the Health Advisory Board.

Dr. McGrath has testified before Congress on more than two-dozen occasions; speaks regularly before national business and health industry groups; appears frequently on national television; and has authored dozens of articles, editorials and book chapters. Before entering the field of strategic policy communication, Dr. McGrath practiced medicine and was elected to leadership positions in both his national specialty society, psychiatry and in the American Medical Association.

He received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Chicago and has an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Dr. McGrath has held academic appointments at George Washington University and Howard University.

He lives in Chicago and New York.