Dr. John Jurist
Dr. John Jurist was simultaneously a physicist and a medical researcher before becoming involved in business. He has degrees in biophysics and nuclear medicine earned while he was at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Jurist has held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) in the Division of Orthopedic Surgery and in the Space Science and Engineering Center. In the former, he studied human factors in space flight during Apollo and what was then called Apollo Applications. In the latter during the early 1970s, he was team leader of the group that transmitted the first medical imaging over communications satellite links in the precursor of what is now called telemedicine. In the business arena, he created, grew, and ran a very successful biomedical engineering consulting firm, took over a surgical care facility with instructions from the board to prepare it for bankruptcy, and within a year, converted it into a successful operation. He also founded a nonprofit medical research institution and ran it for four years -- it now has an eight figure annual research budget. Dr. Jurist is experienced in running a business and evaluating a business plan. Now semi-retired, he is applying his experience to the developing new space industry. He has invested in several alt.space startups, supported research in others by corporate grants, and funded research projects at Montana State University and at Santa Clara University. Dr. Jurist is currently a Life Member of the Aerospace Medical Association, a Life Member of the International Association of Military Flight Surgeon Pilots, and a Fellow of the Gerontological Society among other professional organizations. He is presently an Adjunct Professor of Space Studies at UND at the Odegard School Aerospace Sciences.