James W. Nemitz, Ph.D.

Photo by Pat Bauserman.

By Cathy Bonnstetter

West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine’s (WVSOM) seventh president, James Nemitz, Ph.D., says the responsibilities of his position never end, but he loves representing WVSOM. Nemitz became president of the medical school in 2018.

“This job as president is the culmination of my career and demands everything I have learned throughout my life,” Nemitz says. “My 20 years as a biomedical faculty member leading the anatomy curriculum, conducting neuroscience research and participating in many facets of the life of the school for more than 35 years have been instrumental in understanding the underpinnings of our institution.”

Life lessons learned as a young man growing up in Queens, NY, shape both his professional and personal life.

“My dad was my first mentor,” Nemitz says. “He was a 50-year career bartender in mid-town Manhattan; he was an icon. From him, I learned the value of work and taking care of others. I learned that what’s important in life is not so much what you do but how you do it.”

Nemitz says that his parents, Walter and Ina, were his foundation. They taught him to value people in his life and to be his best. Early on, Nemitz found his love of science, especially biology.

“I was blessed with excellent science teachers who fueled my learning,” he says.

He received his Ph.D. in anatomy in 1980 from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University (MCV-VCU). Nemitz’s first professional job was as a post doctorate fellow in the neurosurgery division of the surgical department at Yale University’s School of Medicine.

“I learned you cannot control the curveballs, but you can control your response to what happens to you in life,” he says. “This important lesson has served me well throughout my career.”

When Nemitz’s wife, Patty, was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis, he moved his family from Richmond, VA, where he was an instructor at MCV-VCU, to Lewisburg, WV, Patty’s hometown.

While working with his father-in-law, Dr. Eugene McClung, Nemitz was offered a temporary teaching contract at WVSOM. Nemitz says this move was his life’s biggest leap of faith—and also his most important.

Nemitz’s academic career unfolded at WVSOM after he took the adjunct professor of anatomy position in 1986. After teaching anatomy for 20 years, he served as an associate dean and subsequently blazed a trail as the school’s first vice president for administration and external relations.

Nemitz says his wife Patty—to whom he was married for 33 years—and Nancy Houck Bulla—whom he has known for more than 30 years—both inspired him on his road to becoming WVSOM president. He has also drawn inspiration from his daughter, Julianna, whom he calls the best gift he ever received.

Nemitz says being named West Virginia’s Professor of the Year in 1999 set his career in motion.

“Winning that award brought me national recognition and propelled my career in ways I could not have imagined,” he says.

Nemitz has served in many roles for the West Virginia chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and helped Patty establish a local support group for the Greenbrier Valley. He is a board member of the Greenbrier Valley Chamber of Commerce and Leadership West Virginia. He is a member of the Lewisburg Rotary Club, the West Virginia Roundtable, the Alliance for the Economic Development of Southern West Virginia and St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in Beckley, WV.

Nemitz says the community spirit he finds in West Virginia reminds him of his Queens neighborhood. He looks forward to embracing that collective spirit to galvanize growth and explore the many possibilities for WVSOM’s footprint on community wellness.

“I have learned many lessons along my journey, such as living in the present moment and that good comes out of bad,” Nemitz says. “The values I learned from my family, church and Boy Scouts during my formative years are what have guided me. For me it really comes down to ‘Love God, love others.’”