John Nelson

Managing Director

John joined Moody’s in 1991 and is currently Managing Director of Moody’s Health Care, Higher Education and Not-for-Profit rating teams. His teams produce the most research in the capital markets on financial and credit risks facing not-for-profits. Moody’s rates more than 1,200 hospital, university and other not-for-profit borrowers in the U.S, and assigns additional ratings in Canada, Europe and Asia.  He has spent two decades analyzing financial trends in these sectors and has personally visited more than 200 universities and hospitals, meeting with board members, presidents, CFOs, CIOs and other senior management officers. John has also spoken at more than 100 different conferences, seminars and board meetings for various public and private colleges and universities. He is also a member of Moody’s Global Public Sector Credit Committee (PSCC). Prior to joining Moody’s, John managed an executive staff of corporate planners for 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 Council President.  John received a B.A. in History with a course concentration in Economics from Binghamton University in New York in 1976, a Masters of Public Policy from 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 focusing on financial analysis of not-for-profit organizations.