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Dr. William H. Fenn serves as speaker of the House of Delegates and vice president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). He has served on the Board of Directors since 2003. He is a tenured professor at Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, where he teaches courses in the physician assistant (PA) program, including dermatology, bioethics, professional and legal issues, and research and evidence-based medicine. He also teaches and supervises doctoral students in the university's interdisciplinary health doctoral program. A practicing PA for nearly 30 years, Fenn also holds a PhD in health policy.

He is currently on the Michigan Board of Medicine and is chair of the separate PA licensing Board. He was appointed to both boards by a governor of one party and uncommonly re-appointed by a governor of the other party.

Fenn became a certified PA in 1981 and has since held several clinical and administrative positions, and has written more than 60 articles for numerous health care and education publications nationally and internationally. He also is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who served for more than 20 years in several leadership positions, and served during Operation Desert Shield/Storm from 1990 to 1991.

In 1999, Fenn was awarded one of AAPA's highest honors, the House Outstanding Service Award. In 2007, he was recognized as a Distinguished Fellow for his service to AAPA. He is a fellow member of the Michigan Academy of Physician Assistants (MAPA), where he was awarded PA of the Year in 2003 and has held the positions of chief delegate and vice-president, as well as foundation trustee and treasurer. He also is a fellow of the Society of Dermatology PAs, a life member of the AAPA Veterans Caucus, and was a founding fellow and president-elect of the Veterans Affairs PA Association.