Alain K. Gunn
Alain Gunn lives a life that other authors can only dream about. He is well-traveled, having worked or taught in over 40 countries in all the inhabited continents. His focus has been upon countries bordering or within the Pacific Ocean, in the center of which he lives. An avid scuba diver and underwater photographer, he has explored the coastal waters of California, the Red Sea, the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and a host of sites in the Pacific, including many in Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia. A retired Army Colonel, he served during the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. He is also a surgeon/educator and researcher of Professorial rank, with over 50 research articles to his credit.
His writing reflects the diversity of his life and includes newspaper articles and features, scientific articles and textbooks, blogs, short stories, and novels. His six novels to date are available on Amazon in print or e-book format.
Writer’s Bio
Education:
He graduated from Lakewood High School, Lakewood, Ohio, before studying physic at Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. After a year of graduate work at Yale, he attended Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, obtaining his MD degree. This was followed by five years training as an intern and orthopaedic resident at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Employment:
He served in the US Army through three major wars – Vietnam, Panama, and Desert Storm – with major assignments at Fort Ord, California, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii. His final assignment before retiring as a Colonel was Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Tripler AMC, a post he held for six years. He then served for twelve years as chief of the medical staff at a children’s hospital in Honolulu, followed by ten years as a professor and chief of pediatric orthopaedics at a university in Texas.
Academic:
He has been held the title of Clinical Professor at two universities and has been an Adjunct Associate Professor at another. He has taught or worked in over 35 countries and five continents, and has been a visiting professor in the Philippines and Japan.
Awards:
He has received numerous awards for his work, including being named an Honorary Ambassador to Guam, and receiving a commendation from the legislature of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas. He was also honored as a Distinguished Graduate of his high school, and received numerous military awards, including the Order of Military Medical Merit, an Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and a Meritorious Service Medal.
He is married with three children, plays banjo in a jazz band, sings in a choir, and enjoys ocean kayaking, scuba diving, and underwater photography.