John O. Agwunobi is a Scottish-born Nigerian-American former public health official, pediatrician, and the current chief executive officer and former executive chairman of

Herbalife Nutrition Herbalife Nutrition Ltd., also called Herbalife International, Inc. (with a U.S. subsidiary called Herbalife International of America) or simply Herbalife, is a global multi-level marketing (MLM) corporation that develops and sells dietary supp ...

. He was formerly senior vice-president of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

and president of the retailer's health and wellness business from 2007 to 2014. Agwunobi served as assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was Florida's secretary of health and state health officer from 2000 to 2005.

Early life and education

Agwunobi was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to a Nigerian father of

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

descent, who was a British-trained physician, and Scottish mother. As a teen, Agwunobi's family moved to Nigeria, where he attended high school and university. He received his medical training at the

University of Jos The University of Jos, abbreviated as Unijos, is a Federal University in Jos, Plateau State, central Nigeria. History What became the University of Jos was established in November 1971 from the satellite campus of the University of Ibadan. ...

, where his father was a professor of medicine. His brother,

Andrew Agwunobi Andrew Chuma Agwunobi (born 1965) is an American physician and administrator. He has been the CEO for UConn Health since 2014 and was appointed interim president of the University of Connecticut on May 19, 2021. He is the first non-white person ...

, is CEO of

UConn Health UConn Health (formerly known as the UConn Health Center) is the branch of the University of Connecticut that oversees clinical care, advanced biomedical research, and academic education in medicine. The main branch is located in Farmington, Connect ...

and interim president of the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

. Agwunobi has a master degree in public health from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, a master of business administration from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, and a certification as a managed care executive from the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP). He completed his pediatric residency at

Howard University Hospital Howard University Hospital, previously known as Freedmen's Hospital, is a major hospital located in Washington, D.C., built on the site of the previous Griffith Stadium. The hospital has served the African-American community in the area for over ...

in Washington, DC, rotating between Children's National Medical Center and the

District of Columbia General Hospital The District of Columbia General Hospital was a hospital located in Washington, D.C. It was operational from 1806 to its controversial closing by mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2001, as the city was trying to cut costs while recovering from bankrup ...

Public office

Prior to his service in the federal government, Agwunobi served as Florida's secretary of health under Governor

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...

from 2000 to 2005. He led Florida's public health response to four major hurricanes that struck the state in 2004. In addition, Agwunobi led the Department's response to the nation's first anthrax attack, subsequently guiding the state's nationally recognized efforts to prepare for, prevent and mitigate the effects of a bioterrorism attack. Agwunobi served as the 12th

assistant secretary for health The assistant secretary for health (ASH) is a senior U.S. government official within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The position is a statutory office () and the holder of the office serves as the United State ...

(ASH) from January 4, 2006 to September 4, 2007. The Senate confirmed him for the position on December 17, 2005. During his term as the ASH, he oversaw the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the office of the U.S. Surgeon General and was a member of the

United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), also referred to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, is the federal uniformed service of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and one of the ...

, a uniformed service, and held the rank of four-star

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

. He also served as the U.S. representative on the World Health Organization executive board. Agwunobi has served as vice-chair of the

United States African Development Foundation The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is an independent United States government agency that provides grants of up to $250,000 for operational assistance, enterprise expansion and market linkage to early stage agriculture, e ...

. He has served as a board adviser to Shopko, a specialty retail store holding corporation and board director for Magellan Health Services.

Corporate career

Walmart

In September 2007, Agwunobi was announced as Walmart's top medical professional working to expand the retailer's growth into the healthcare and wellness business. He led a team of more than 65,000 employees at the company's pharmacies, vision centers and healthcare clinics.Dr. John Agwunobi resigns from health post at Wal-Mart
/ref> Agwunobi later became the senior vice-president of Walmart, where he "drove down prescription medication costs and provided ongoing savings through our pharmacy offerings" before leaving in 2014.

Herbalife Nutrition

In 2016, Agwunobi joined Herbalife Nutrition, a multi-level marketing company based in California, as its chief health and nutrition officer. He became co-president in 2018 and was announced as its next chief executive officer and executive chairman in March 2020. After assuming the role, Agwunobi stated that he would focus the company's investments on weight management and sports performance. Dr. John Agwunobi departed Herbalife Nutrition in October 2022 and former CEO Michael O. Johnson was named Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer.

References

External links

White House bio of Agwunobi
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agwunobi, John O. American chief executives American people of Scottish descent American public health doctors American people of Nigerian descent American politicians of Nigerian descent Florida Republicans George W. Bush administration personnel Howard University alumni Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni Living people McDonough School of Business alumni Nigerian emigrants to the United States Nigerian pediatricians Nigerian people of Scottish descent People associated with direct selling People from Dundee State cabinet secretaries of Florida United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps admirals University of Jos alumni Walmart people Year of birth missing (living people)