John Nelson

John is a career manager, analyst and thought leader focusing on financial risk assessment and leadership challenges facing US higher education and not-for-profit organizations.  He is Executive Director of Re-Institute, a new organization recently established to address the complex challenges faced by American higher education in the 21st century. Envisioned as a non-profit research and service organization, Re-Institute seeks to elevate public understanding of the education marketplace to make more informed college choice decisions; provide guidance for the effective organization and delivery of higher education services; and embolden college and university leadership to direct institutional policies and resources to the primary mission of advancing social benefit.

John recently retired from Moody’s Investors Service after twenty-six years. Under his leadership, Moody’s became the leading authority in capital markets on the topics of financial risk facing colleges, universities and hospitals in the US and other countries.  John and his teams spent more than two decades analyzing financial trends in these sectors, producing thousands of credit reports on individual institutions and hundreds of white papers and industry studies.  He has personally visited more than 200 universities and hospitals, meeting with board members, presidents, CFOs, CIOs and other senior management officers.

During his twenty-six years at Moody’s, John also directed a team of former journalists employed to improve business research writing skills for analysts.  He was a key leader overseeing adoption of new technology related to analytical research, including natural language technology developed to increase productivity of research analysts.  

Prior to joining Moody’s, John managed teams of business planners and economic analysts for six years at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He also spent four years as a country risk analyst for Republic National Bank, as well as two years as budget advisor to New York City’s Office of the City Council President.

John received a B.A. in History from Binghamton University in New York in 1976. He received a Masters of Public Affairs from the Johnson School at the University of Texas at Austin in 1979. He was also a research associate at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies in Aspen, Colorado in 1979. John is currently Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Administration at New York University, where he teaches a course focusing on financial analysis of hospitals, universities and not-for-profit organizations.

Areas of Expertise

Education

Evaluation

Finance

Health Management

Health Policy

Housing & Community Development

Infrastructure

Public & Nonprofit Organizations

Transportation