Richard Culbertson is Professor and Director, Health Policy and Systems Management at Louisiana State University School of Public Health, New Orleans. He is Professor of Family Medicine and of Internal Medicine at the LSU School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine. From 2013 to 2015 he was Interim Dean of the LSU School of Public Health. He is a voting member of the LSU School of Medicine Admissions Committee and is Deputy Director of the MD/MPH Program.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of California-San Francisco as the first student employee to do so at UCSF; a Masters in Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota; a Master of Divinity (cum laude) from Harvard University; and a BA cum laude from Lawrence University of Appleton, WI.
Prior to joining LSU Health, he was Professor with tenure at Tulane School of Public Health; serving as Interim Chair of Health Systems Management, Director of its Center for Health Services research; and Chair of the School's Doctoral Studies Committee. He was elected Chair of the General Faculty of the School of Public Health during the Katrina years 2005-6. He served as a University Senator, and was twice Chair of the University Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics and Chair of the NCAA Certification process for Tulane. He is a fellow of Newcomb College at Tulane, and received the Professor of the Year award on 4 occasions as chosen by the students of Tulane Health Management.
In 2015 he received the Allen Copping Award for teaching excellence as voted by the students of LSU School of Public Health.
Before his move to full time academics, he had a twenty year career in health management practice as CEO of Kaiser-Permanente's largest hospital, the KP Los Angeles Hospital (Sunset), Los Angeles, CA., COO of St. Paul-Ramsey (now Regions) Hospital of St. Paul, MN, and Assistant VP for Planning and Construction of Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, R.I.
His contributions to healthcare governance include Chairman of the System Board of Directors of Aurora Healthcare of Wisconsin; at the time (1994-2007) the largest private employer in Wisconsin. He served as a member of the Governing Board of Touro Infirmary (first hospital to reopen in the City of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina). He was a member of the Committee on Governance of the American Hospital Association and of its Regional Policy Board VII from 2006-2009. He continued as a member of AHA's Leadership Development Committee 2009-2012.
He was named a W.K. Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Fellow and an Emerging Leader in Health Care by the Healthcare Forum (Both in 1985). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Delta Omega national honorary societies. In 1982 he received the Spurgeon award for "Exceptional career achievement and outstanding community service" from the Mayor of St. Paul, MN. on behalf of its citizens.
Aurora HealthCare of Wisconsin in 2005 established the Richard A Culbertson Leadership in Healthcare Scholarship in appreciation for his service as Chairman of the Aurora System Board. In 2017 he endowed the Richard A. Culbertson Professorship in Health Policy and Systems Management at LSU School of Public Health. Concurrently he and his wife Susan Leary endowed the Susan M. Leary and Richard A. Culbertson Professorship in Family Medicine at LSU School of Medicine. In 2022 they completed funding of the Richard A. Culbertson and Susan Leary Professorship in Internal Medicine at LSU.
His community service has included such diverse activities as President of the Humane Society of Ramsey County (MN) and Board Member of the Hollywood (CA) Chamber of Commerce. He enjoys athletic endeavors, holding a First Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwan Do and completing the 2009 Alcatraz Invitational Swim Race from Alcatraz to San Francisco in the non-wetsuit division.