John O. Agwunobi

John O. Agwunobi
Admiral John O. Agwunobi, USPHS Assistant Secretary for Health
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
Years of service	2005–2007
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Assistant Secretary for Health United States Public Health Service
Awards	Public Health Service Regular Corps Ribbon
Other work	Republican

John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH is a pediatrician and a former US government official and business executive. His experience includes clinical care, managed care, healthy policy, state and federal public health, retail pharmacy operations and optical service delivery. He was formerly Senior Vice President of Walmart Stores, Inc. and President of the retailer's $30 billion Health and Wellness business from 2007 to 2014. At Walmart, Agwunobi was responsible for a chain of 4,000 retail, specialty and mail order pharmacies; more than 2,500 vision centers and 100 in-store convenient care clinics; and a pharmacy benefits management unit.

Agwunobi was born in Dundee, Scotland to a Nigerian father—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, where his father was a professor of medicine.

Prior to his service in the federal government, Agwunobi served as Florida’s Secretary of Health under Governor Jeb Bush 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 (ASH) from December 17, 2005 to September 4, 2007. During his term as the ASH, he was a member of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service, and held the rank of four-star admiral. His responsibilities included disease prevention, health promotion, the reduction of health disparities, the fight against HIV/AIDS, pandemic influenza planning and vaccine-preventable disease. As the ASH, Agwunobi oversaw the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, the FDA, HRSA, Indian Health Service, Office of Minority Health, as well as numerous other Public Health offices and programs. He also served as the U.S. representative on the World Health Organization executive board.