Natalie B. May

Center for Appreciative Practice
University of Virginia
PO Box 800901
Charlottesville, VA  22908

Email: Nbmay@verizon.net
Phone: (434) 924-1190; (804)-512-3208
Web: https://med.virginia.edu/appreciative-practice/

Natalie May is Associate Professor of Research at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Her professional home is in the Division of General, Geriatric, Palliative and Hospital Medicine where she has worked for over 25 years. In addition to her work collaborating on research with Division faculty, she was a founding member of the UVA health system’s Appreciative Inquiry Project in 2007.  The AI Project evolved into our Center for Appreciative Practice.  We offer appreciative inquiry consulting services and appreciative practice workshops, as well as an annual Wisdom and Well-Being speaker series.

Natalie was also an investigator for the Wisdom in Medicine Project: Mapping the Path Through Adversity to Wisdom, a study funded by the John Templeton Foundation.  Under the direction of Margaret Plews-Ogan, they interviewed physicians who had been involved in a medical error in order to understand how exemplar physicians cope with what is the most difficult experience a physician can face.  Their book, Choosing Wisdom: Strategies and Inspiration for Growing Through Life-Changing Difficulties became a PBS documentary. She is also the lead author of the book, Appreciative Inquiry in Healthcare: Positive Questions to Bring Out the Best.  She is the co-author of many articles related to wisdom in medicine, healthcare education and training, and innovative clinical practices.

She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, Jim May; their daughter attends the College of Wooster (Ohio). In her spare time, she runs a small nonprofit, Change the World RVA, that supports high school and college students who face homelessness.