Michael Hole, M.D., MBA, FAAP, is a physician, professor, researcher, author and entrepreneur at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is faculty at both Dell Medical School and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Hole is an assistant professor of pediatrics, population health and public policy, as well as founder and executive director at Opportunity Ventures, a hub for social entrepreneurship tackling poverty, hunger, homelessness and other problems harming health.
Hole is a “street pediatrician” onboard Children’s Health Express, a mobile medical clinic serving Greater Austin’s most vulnerable families and children. He teaches “Solutions for America’s Children in Poverty,” an annual, graduate-level course at UT Austin on human-centered design and entrepreneurship for students studying medicine, business, social work, policy, engineering and law.
Hole started his career as a social work case manager fighting child trafficking, mental illness and domestic violence in middle America before leading campaigns to help fund a primary school in Uganda, an orphanage for children with disabilities who were abandoned during Haiti’s 2010 earthquake and a new food product for young people who are malnourished. Forbes named him to its “30 Under 30” list after launching StreetCred, a national nonprofit helping low-income families file taxes and build wealth while they wait in doctors’ offices.
Hole, a first-generation college graduate from rural Indiana, was Butler University’s top male student before earning his M.D. and MBA from Stanford University with concentrations in public management, community health and social innovation. He completed his pediatrics residency at Harvard.
In 2019, Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush named Hole a Presidential Leadership Scholar. He is a member of Mensa and former Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum. Hole and his wife live in Austin, where she is an associate commissioner of the Texas Education Agency.