Dr. Emmanuel John, Dean of Myers School of Nursing and Health Professions, to be honored at York’s African/African-American Love Feast

Dr. Emmanuel John, Dean of York College’s Dr. Donald E. and Lois J. Myers School of Nursing and Health Professions, will be honored at the 2024 African/African-American Love Feast, hosted by York’s Emmanuel Church of God in Christ on February 11.

This is the 27^th year for the Black History Month event, which was created in the late 1990s to highlight the plight of African immigrants who were housed in the York County Prison, according to Dr. Deborah McMillan, chairperson of the Love Feast and former York College trustee. “It was intended to honor and introduce them to the African-American community in York. Now, we also honor others in our community who are very active, have done notable things, or have a positive effect on others.”

Former York College presidents Dr. George Waldner and Dr. Pamela Gunter-Smith received the accolade previously. “York College plays an important role,” Dr. McMillan said,” as it has been a place where our community has been able to further their education.”

Before coming to York College in 2022, Dr. John served as Chair and Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Therapy at Chapman University in Irvine, California. Prior to that, he served as Associate Professor and Director of Research for the School of Physical Therapy at Touro University Nevada, and as an Associate Professor at Radford University in Roanoke, VA. In addition, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he also served as Director of the Motor Control and Neuromuscular Performance Laboratory.

Dr. John serves in leadership roles for a number of professional organizations, including as secretary and a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the American Council on Academic Physical Therapy. He is also a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and Executive Director of the Nigeria Physiotherapy Network.

Dr. John earned a bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria; a Ph.D. in rehabilitation science from the University of Kansas Medical Center; a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Alabama State University, Montgomery; an MBA from Louisiana State University, Shreveport; and a Master of Public Health from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. He is a Credentialed Fellowship Graduate of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Educational Leadership Institute and is President of the International Association of Nigerian Physical Therapists in North America.

Dr. John serves on the boards of UPMC Memorial, York, and the Memorial Health Fund of the York County Community Foundation.

“We are honoring Dr. John as an African who came to America to serve as dean of the nursing school and as a person of stature in our community,” Dr. McMillan said. “His many degrees, accomplishments, and awards are the things that we bring out at the event so that people get to know him.”