The importance of fellowships: one alum's story

The story behind John Holton's career is, literally, history. After earning a BA in history from UW-Madison in 1972, Holton pursued a master's degree here in industrial engineering. "I love studying history and felt very lucky to have had four years to pursue that full time," he explains. "However, when I graduated, we were in an economic downturn and history didn't sound like it would provide me with a means of income if I continued on in graduate school. I thought about what job areas would be important to the future, and managing hospitals and health-care facilities was the most appealing."

Since earning his master's degree in 1975, John Holton founded two health care-related companies: the Atwork Corporation and his new business, scheduling.com. (24K JPG)

Interviewing for graduate schools, Holton met Professor David Gustafson, who had just begun studying health systems engineering. The area interested Holton, and a research fellowship enabled him to pursue the degree. "I was very lucky to have been a part of David's research projects and watch him build his program," he says. "It provided an education in how to be an entrepreneur. David was very innovative, moved quickly, wasn't afraid to make mistakes and worked very hard. He demanded that his employees work hard and work smart."

Holton took his entrepreneurial spirit to California. With Don Holloway—Gustafson's first PhD student—as his mentor, Holton worked four years at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley to learn how health care was delivered. Then he launched his own company, the Atwork Corporation. At its peak, Atwork provided resource management systems to two out of three hospitals in the United States and Canada and hospitals in 16 other countries. "I founded the business based directly on what I learned under David's direction," says Holton.

The Medaphis Corporation since has acquired Atwork and, with other subsidiaries, created Per-Sé Technologies. With his new company, scheduling.com, Holton hopes to extend scheduling services to all health-care providers and connect them with consumers via the Internet.

Recently Holton established the John P. Holton Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowships. "Because of my own fellowship, I knew how critical they could be to providing someone who will later make a contribution to health care to continue their education," he says.

He has good memories of his own education. "I believe a college education is one of the most important things you can accomplish in life," he says. "It prepares you for your working life and gives you a foundation upon which to build your adult life. I felt very fortunate to attend the University of Wisconsin and count the experience as one of the best of my life."