Career paths rarely move in a straight line, and Justin Fulcher‘s is no exception. A telemedicine founder in his early twenties, a Pentagon advisor by his early thirties, and along the way, a return to the classroom that helped bridge the two.
Fulcher co-founded RingMD in 2013, building a platform that connected patients across Asia with physicians despite gaps in local healthcare infrastructure. The company grew to operate in multiple countries, and by 2017 his work had earned him a place on Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list in the Healthcare and Science category. He eventually stepped back from day to day management, though he still serves as a board member and minority shareholder.
Returning to Study Global Security
Rather than moving directly from private industry into government, Fulcher pursued a Master’s degree in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, completing it in 2023. The subject matter marked a clear shift from healthcare technology toward the kind of global security questions that would later shape his advisory work at the Department of Defense.
He has since continued that academic path, pursuing a Doctorate in International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Few entrepreneurs pair hands on company building with a doctoral program in international affairs, but the combination lines up closely with the work Fulcher took on next.
From Classroom to the Pentagon
In early 2025, Justin Fulcher joined the Department of Defense as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, focused on acquisition reform and technology adoption. Justin Fulcher academic grounding in nonproliferation and international affairs now informs a broader portfolio that includes defense technology and supply chain resilience, particularly around rare-earth elements, subjects that sit squarely at the intersection of his two fields of study. Like this page on Facebook, to learn more.
Learn more about Justin Fulcher on https://www.justinfulcher.com/