John F. Duval, a veteran academic hospital administrator whose professional life spanned scientific research, health-system leadership and extensive community service, died June 9, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona. Family members were at his side as he succumbed to pancreatic cancer, a disease he faced with what his family described as "grit, grace, and caring." Duval’s life and career touched institutions and communities across the country, and his professional achievements were matched by a long record of volunteer work and a passion for outdoor adventure.
Portrait of John F. Duval, who passed June 9, 2026, in Tucson, Arizona.
Duval was born on November 7, 1952, in Pasadena, California, to Mildred (neé Bramin) and Theodore Duval. He graduated from Arcadia High School and pursued studies in music, earning an associate degree. He later served as a Navy reservist and deployed to Guam. Duval continued his academic pursuits at the University of California, Irvine, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in 1976. Early in his career he worked in research laboratories at UC Irvine and at Brookhaven National Laboratory in areas that included biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology.
In 1977 he met Valli Hancock, whom he married in 1979; the couple remained life partners for 47 years. Duval returned to UC Irvine to earn a Master of Business Administration in 1981, and from there he embarked on a career that placed him in senior administrative roles at medical centers affiliated with the University of California, Irvine; the University of Colorado Denver; the University of Arizona; and Virginia Commonwealth University. Colleagues and institutional recognitions noted his persistent focus on quality and safety in academic medicine, and those efforts brought awards to the organizations he led.
During his tenure in academic hospital administration, Duval served on and worked with a range of national and regional healthcare organizations. His professional activities included service with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Veterans Health Administration and the American Hospital Association, as well as participation in numerous local and regional healthcare associations. Duval championed initiatives to expand access to care in rural communities and to create partnerships with healthcare providers in tribal areas. At Virginia Commonwealth University, the medical center received the American Hospital Association McKesson "Quest for Quality" Award in 2014 while he was in leadership.
Recognition for his service included awards and honors over the course of his career. Among those noted was the Jerome F. Strauss Award for extraordinary service, which Duval received in 2017. After retiring from Virginia Commonwealth University, he continued his professional engagement with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, serving as a Senior Scholar in Residence. In that role, following previous service on the ACGME Board of Directors, he worked on forging international partnerships intended to strengthen graduate medical education in other countries.
Duval maintained an active civic life alongside his professional responsibilities. His records of volunteer service encompass work with organizations including La Frontera Arizona, the Rotary Club of Tucson, the American Red Cross of Southern Arizona and of Greater Richmond, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Richmond and of Tucson, and the Leukemia Society of Southern Arizona. He also frequently assisted friends and acquaintances in navigating the medical system and advocated on their behalf, applying his professional knowledge to help individuals in his community.
Outside his professional and volunteer commitments, Duval was an ardent traveler and outdoor enthusiast. He traveled to every continent and spent considerable time exploring the American Southwest, which he regarded as home. His outdoor pursuits included numerous backpacking and river trips through the Grand Canyon and kayaking excursions on the San Juan River. Those adventures, and the tales that followed them, were a notable part of how friends and family remembered him; he was known to tease hiking companions with the refrain, "It's just a walk in the park!"
Duval is survived by his wife, Valli; his children, Dari and Devin; and three grandchildren, Charlotte, Sierra and Sylvan. His family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be directed to the John F. and Valli S. Duval Endowed Professorship for Gastrointestinal Oncology through the University of Arizona Foundation. The notice of his passing was published by the Arizona Daily Star on July 20, 2026.
From 2003 to 2016, Duval served as CEO of VCU Hospitals and Clinics and vice president for clinical affairs, retiring in 2016 after 13 years in that leadership role.
During his VCU tenure he oversaw the additions of the Children’s Hospital of Richmond and Community Memorial Hospital and was instrumental in completing the Critical Care Hospital and the Children’s Pavilion; under his leadership VCU Medical Center earned the American Hospital Association’s top honor for safety and quality and was ranked the No. 1 hospital in Virginia by U.S. News & World Report.
For the six years before joining VCU, Duval was chief operating officer of University Medical Center at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson.