Wright State staff member Jonathan Lu honored with national Military Medic of the Year Award

After retiring from the U.S. Army in 2024, Jonathan Lu joined Wright State as the director of the Center for Health Professions.

Jonathan Lu, D.B.H., director of the Center for Health Professions at Wright State University, received the prestigious 2024 Military Medic of the Year Award from the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Lu, a retired master sergeant in the U.S. Army, was honored by the association and EMS World during the annual EMS World Expo in September.

The Military Medic of the Year Award recognizes a military medic who demonstrates excellence in the performance of military emergency medicine.

Lu said he was honored to accept the award “on behalf of the military servicemembers and civilian first responders who supported and guided me along the way. From the beginning of my Army career, I strived to be the most tactically and technically proficient medic I could be because it was what those who depended on me deserved.”

He hopes to use his new platform to raise awareness of the barriers that military service members with health care training face when transitioning to civilian life. The solution, he said, includes creating competency-based evaluations that consider military medics’ experiences and building better onramps to lead service members to health profession education and training opportunities.

“Military medics can be part of the solution to stabilize our current regional healthcare workforce shortages if we could only just let them,” Lu said.

After retiring from the U.S. Army, Lu joined Wright State in 2024 to lead the Center for Health Professions. The center serves pre-health students at Wright State who wish to enter the health care workforce after graduation or apply to a health care professional or graduate school.

Lu’s 20-year Army career includes service as a combat medic, instructor and Special Forces operator.

A first-generation immigrant, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2003 as a combat medic. His final assignment was as the chief medical operations noncommissioned officer and senior enlisted medical advisor for the Army’s 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), where he oversaw an interprofessional directorate of health professionals and technicians.

He is a Special Operations advanced tactical practitioner, a nationally registered paramedic and a former volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.

He is also the founder and CEO of HardHat Wellness, a consulting firm serving the health and wellness needs of first-responder, health care and high-hazard industries.

Lu received a Doctorate in Behavioral Health from Arizona State University and a Master of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in clinical health sciences from George Washington University.

The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians represents the professional interests of all emergency and mobile healthcare practitioners.

EMS World publishes a magazine for emergency medical services providers and organizes the EMS World Expo, an annual trade show and educational conference.