John Erwin, MBA

Vice Chancellor, Government Relations

John Erwin is vice chancellor for government relations at UMass Chan Medical School. In this role, he leads comprehensive advocacy efforts and oversees the Office of Community and Government Relations, which serves as a liaison between the medical school and its neighbors and representation at all levels of government.

Erwin joined UMass Chan Medical School in 2019 after serving for 13 years as the executive director of the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals (COBTH), a coalition of 12 Boston-area teaching hospitals that collaborate on issues fundamental to their missions of patient care, teaching, biomedical research and community service. He is an active member and former chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges Government Affairs Committee; and has served on a number of policy and community steering and advisory committees including the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission’s Advisory Council, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Community Benefit Advisory Committee and the Boston Alliance for Community Health Steering Committee.

Prior to joining COBTH, Erwin was the director of government affairs for Tufts Health Plan and also held positions at the Boston City Council and the Massachusetts State Council on Vocational Education.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts Boston, Erwin also earned a Master of Business Administration from Boston University.