The following bio is that of an event speaker or guest author. This person is not directly affiliated with the John Locke Foundation.

Dr. Dennis Taylor was born in Ft. Rucker, Alabama and raised in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Dr. Taylor was educated at Wake Forest University (BA in Biology and Psychology and MBA in Healthcare Administration), Appalachian State University (M.Ed. in Adult Education and Curriculum Design), Seton Hall University (BSN in Nursing and MSN as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner) and received his doctorate (DNP) from the University of South Carolina.  Dr. Taylor has completed a post-doctoral PhD Fellowship in Pharmacogenomics from the University of Colorado. Dr. Taylor was selected as a Great 100 Nurse in North Carolina in 2007.

Dr. Taylor served eight years in the United States Air Force and USAF Reserves as a Navigator and Weapons Systems Officer with over 6,000 hours of flight time in fighter aircraft.

Dr. Taylor was the Chief Flight Nurse and Program Director for MedCenter Air, the air and ground critical care transport service for the Carolinas Healthcare System (now Atrium Health). Dr. Taylor held positions of Assistant Vice President, Center for Advanced Practice and Vice President, System Nursing, representing all advanced practice nurses (1,500 advanced practice providers) across the enterprise. He created and directed the largest advanced practice provider postgraduate transition to practice Fellowship program in the United States with over 60 Fellows annually. In addition, Dr. Taylor continued his clinical practice in the Department of Surgery and Trauma Services where his research and evidence-based practice interest was venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in adult and pediatric patients. Dr. Taylor is the Lead Editor (and primary author of four chapters) of a ground-breaking textbook published in 2015 on invasive procedures with a target audience of advanced practice nurses and physician assistants – Interventional Critical Care,published by Springer International. The second edition of this very successful textbook is currently in production. Dr. Taylor was inducted into the American College of Critical Care Medicine as a Fellow in 2010 and remains very active in the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Taylor moved to Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem in 2018 and began working in the Department of Surgery and Trauma Services division teaching invasive procedures to medical students, resident physicians and other advanced practice providers. His current responsibilities include evaluating, treating and coordinating care for acutely injured patients and serving as a first assistant in the operating theater. He also holds a faculty position in the Department of Anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health where he teaches Politics and Healthcare Policy courses in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

Dr. Taylor served as Chair of the North Carolina Commission on Advanced Practice Nursing from 2012 to 2017. He then became President-Elect of the North Carolina Nurses Association and was inducted as President for a two-year term in September 2019. Dr. Taylor also served as Co-Chair of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Advisory Committee of the American Nurses Association where he contributed to the policy and advocacy initiatives of the association. Dr. Taylor was recently appointed to a Department of Health and Human Services Task force by Secretary Alex Azar that will focus on utilizing advanced practice nurses in rural and underserved areas.