Board of Directors

Dr. Skurja is one of three co-founders of Wasatch Educational, and one of the three co-founders of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU). He has served in numerous roles at RMU, from which he retired in 2018 as Executive Vice President of Operations.  Dr. Skurja currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the University.

Dr. Skurja spent 23 years in the U.S. Navy and served as a physical therapist and administrator including positions in executive medicine. He was stationed at numerous Naval Hospitals throughout the United States, and he retired from the Navy in 1992 with the rank of Captain. From 1992 to 2005 he had a private practice in San Diego, California specializing in electroneuromyography.

Dr. Skurja graduated with a BS degree in Biological Science from Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado, a Certificate in Physical Therapy from the Mayo Foundation, School of Physical Therapy, Rochester, Minnesota, a MS Degree in Physical Therapy from The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, and a Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, Provo, Utah. He is board certified by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties as an Electrophysiologic Clinical Specialist.

With over four decades as a healthcare provider and clinical preceptor and higher education administrator, Dr. Richard P. Nielsen served as the founding president and CEO of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) from its inception in 1998 until the end of 2022. He is also the founding president and CEO of the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine and retired from this position in 2021. His vision and leadership brought about the creation of both institutions.

President Nielsen, a native of Spanish Fork, Utah, points to the wisdom and encouragement from his single mother he received while growing up. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University in pre-physical therapy and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah in physical therapy, a Master of Science in neural-kinesiology from the University of Washington, and a Doctor of Health Science from the University of St. Augustine with an emphasis in clinical electrophysiology.

Nielsen served in the U.S. Army National Guard for over five years and the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps for over 20 years during the Viet Nam and Persian Gulf conflicts where he was trained and became Board certified in clinical electroneuromyography/electrophysiology. During his time in the Navy, he held several esteemed leadership positions in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Medicine clinics and in his last assignment as the chief physical therapist for the entire U.S. Navy (responsible for 47 physical therapy clinics across the globe) where he was appointed by the Navy Surgeon General as the physical therapy consultant to U.S. Congress and the Senate, the Surgeon General, the Supreme Court, the Pentagon, and the White House. He received the Navy Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal, and the Navy Commendation Medal during his service. He retired with the rank of Commander.

Dr. Nielsen, along with his wife, Jodi, and eldest daughter, Kindee, founded two charitable foundations; Reach the Children and World of Difference (WOD) (worldofdifference.ngo ). Since 2013, WOD has partnered with RMU to take graduate students to Kenya and Malawi to work in developing country hospitals and clinics and to provide clinical education to healthcare providers. Dr. Nielsen has summited the highest peak on the African continent (Mt. Kilimanjaro) eight times.

In 2013, the Nielsens received the American Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award for their service in Africa. Dr. Nielsen has received several recognitions in the medical community, including the 2015 Leader of the Year Award from the American Physical Therapy Association and, in 2019, Utah Business Magazine's Healthcare Hero of the Year Award for healthcare education. He was recognized as Utah Valley Magazine's Person of the Year for 2023 and was named the Pillar of the Valley for 2023 by the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. He also received the Provo City Mayor's Exceptional Example Award in 2023 and the 2023 Eric Heaton Lifetime Service Award by the Utah Academy of Physician Assistant's.

Mr. Burgon is currently the General Partner of Exit Ventures, a venture capital firm. Mr. Burgon was also CEO of Vortechs, a recycling company, as well as Managing Director of LiqTech North America, a water treatment company. Mr. Burgon was Senior Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions for Steel Partners Holdings, a public holding company, where he completed over $1.4 billion worth of acquisitions and divestitures. From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Burgon was the interim Chief Financial Officer of SWK Holdings Corporation, where he helped transform a public investment company into a specialty healthcare finance company. He was the Principal, CFO and COO of NightWatch Capital Advisors LLC, a private investment firm, from 2005 to 2012. Mr. Burgon was a Manager and then Director of Corporate Development for Danaher Corporation from 1998 to 2005, where he completed approximately 50 transactions with a value of almost $2 billion. Mr. Burgon led corporate development at Fluke Corporation from 1997 to 1998 and worked at Coopers and Lybrand’s Acquisition Advisory Group from 1994 to 1997. Mr. Burgon holds a B.S.B.A. degree (cum laude) in Finance and International Business and an International Executive M.B.A. degree from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

Mr. Burgon has been a guest lecturer at Georgetown University, American University, and Brigham Young University, and served on the Georgetown University alumni admissions committee for 15 years. He has served as a board member for public and private companies and has made various conference and investment group presentations. He is an avid skier and cyclist and is married with three children.

Burgon serves as a Lead Independent Director at Wasatch Educational, Inc. and a member of the Executive Committee.

Dr. Downs is president of Tidewater Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Associates, P.A., a 16 clinic “Medicare Certified Rehabilitation Agency” covering the Delmarva Peninsula that includes the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Southern Delaware, which he started in 1984. He is also President and Primary Electromyographer at Tidewater Electromyography that he started in 1980 and contracts with Tidewater PT.

After he was graduated from the Medical College of Virginia in 1970, he served 3 years in the U.S. Public Health Service in New Orleans, LA and Washington, DC with a Mentorship in clinical electromyography. He then, 1973-1975, attended the graduate PT program at Emory University where he worked in the Biofeedback Research Lab under the tutelage of John V. Basmajian, MD. Afterward, 1975-1976, he worked as a Research PT in the Kinesiology Research Lab of Mary Pat Murray PT, PhD at Wood VA Center in Milwaukee, WI, while attending graduate school at the Medical College of Wisconsin. After his daughter was born in 1976, he moved his family to their home area and became the Director of PT and hospital Electromyographer at Memorial Hospital in Easton, MD. In 1980 he entered private practice as an Electromyographer and also contracted EMG services with area hospitals. Four years later, he and three associates formed a private PT practice that has continued to expand with a unique ownership opportunity for physical therapists. In 1994, he and an associate also bought an ailing private practice in Burlington, VT that they expanded into a thriving four clinic practice and sold several years later. While continuing to practice full time, he attended RMU, starting in 1999 and was graduated in 2006 with a Doctor of Science degree in Clinical Electrophysiologic Physical Therapy.

He has served in several offices of the Maryland Chapter of APTA, was on the EMG committee of the APTA’s Section on Clinical Electrophysiology for over 10 years, which culminated in having EMG as a recognized service for physical therapists by Medicare and was a member of the Maryland State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners for 8 years (1994-2002). He, with associates, has published in Physical Therapy and the American Journal of Physical Medicine in the field of Kinesiology. He taught the Electromyography and Nerve Conduction Studies course at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for 40 years and has presented nationally at EMG Meetings. He currently resides in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with his wife, Mary Lynn, who he married in 1969.

Dr. Sandra Pennington was awarded the title of Administrator Emeritus following her retirement from executive leadership at Rocky Mountain University in 2021, after serving in various positions, including Academic Dean (2006-2008, 2009-2012), Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs/Provost (2012-2015), Executive Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Initiatives (2015-2018), Chief of Staff, Office of the President (2018-2020), and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, College of Optometry (2020-2021).

Dr. Pennington has a forty-six year career as a registered nurse where she served in diverse roles in the clinical and academic settings. She holds a PhD in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Her doctoral study explored symptom appraisal in women with coronary artery disease. Dr. Pennington had a distinguished career at Berea College (Kentucky) where she held an Endowed Chair in Nursing position. After 18 years of service, she was granted a Professor Emeritus title on her retirement.

Before her full-time appointment at RMU, she also established and served as the founding program director for the DSc in Nursing program and as founding co-director for the Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Dr. Pennington currently serves on the Physical Therapy Panel of the Commission on Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) and has acted as a CAPTE’s peer evaluator since 2013.  Dr. Pennington also has been a NWCCU peer evaluator since 2014. At RMU, she has been the recipient of the University’s Presidential Award (2017) and the Difference Maker Award (2015).

For the last seven editions Dr. Pennington has been a principal co-author for the nursing pharmacology text, Abrams' Clinical Drug Therapy; she has also co-authored critical care and another pharmacology text, and an emergency nursing textbook for nursing students. She has authored articles in peer-reviewed journals and has written multiple book chapters. Additionally, she has served as clinical consultant for nursing texts related to assessment and to critical care, and as a reviewer of several texts dealing with critical care and nursing in contemporary society. In addition, Dr. Pennington has extensive experience as an expert nursing witness in malpractice cases. With her interest in patient safety and medical error, she participated as a Salzburg (Austria) seminar fellow as a Mellon Grant recipient.

Dr. Pennington has a passion for institutional accreditation, governance, assessment, and strategic planning and has focused much of her career on data-driven decision-making at the point-of-care and in navigating the future of the professoriate. Dr. Pennington currently serves as a Board of Trustees member at the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at Neumont College, and has been on the Physical Therapy Panel of the Commission on Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) since 2017. She has acted as a CAPTE’s peer evaluator since 2013. Dr. Pennington served as RMU’s Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) and has been a NWCCU peer evaluator since 2014. In addition, she served as a consultant to the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine in the areas of project management, accreditation, policy development, and strategic planning.

Dr. Taylor earned a Bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University. He graduated from the U.S. Army-Baylor University in 1982 with a Master’s degree in Physical Therapy and later graduated with his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in 2007.

He has been practicing physical therapy since 1982 and is the founder of five FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Center clinics in Provo, Orem, Lehi, Midvale and Ogden. His training and experience while working as an Army Physical Therapist afforded him many opportunities to study at advanced continuing education courses and train in renowned medical facilities. His main expertise is the evaluation and treatment of spinal disorders and all orthopedic injuries. He also has extensive training and experience in treating patients with vestibular and balance problems as well as pelvic floor issues.  He has had the opportunity to work with and treat a wide variety of patients–athletes, children, geriatrics, worker comp, etc. since 1982. He finds great satisfaction and happiness in seeing his patients recover and regain their normal activities.

Dr. Taylor has a special interest in nutrition and wellness. His other interests include spending time with his family, traveling, skiing, tennis, cycling and a love for photography. Dr. Taylor currently serves as a member of the Wasatch Educational Board of Directors and on the Board of Trustees of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.

Matthew Wride is a business executive who focuses on making the human resources department a strategic partner in organizations of all sizes and types.  He is a minority partner in DecisionWise, a boutique employee research and analytics firm headquartered in Springville, Utah.

As DecisionWise’s Chief Operating Officer, Matt oversees the company’s operations, as well as its finance, legal, technology, and administrative functions. Wride joined DecisionWise in 2015, after serving as the COO for a start-up incubator and family office. Prior to making the transition to business management, he was a corporate attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah. Wride’s practice ranged from advising start-ups to handling complex mergers and acquisitions.  Prior to practicing law, he was an accountant and consultant with Deloitte (formerly Deloitte & Touche) in Seattle, Washington and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Wride is co-author of the book, The Employee Experience: How to Attract Talent, Retain Top Performers, and Drive Results, published by Wiley & Sons.  He is also an adjunct professor of political science at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.  In 2018, Wride was recognized by Utah Business Magazine as a CXO of the year.

Besides his family, his true love is skiing Utah’s Rocky Mountains, where he is constantly in search of “champagne” powder and blue skies.

Wride received a JD from Willamette University College of Law, a Masters of Laws in Taxation (LLM) from the University of Washington, and a BS in Sociology from Brigham Young University.

Wride serves as a Lead Independent Director at Wasatch Educational, Inc. and a member of the Executive Committee.