Global Innovation - The Paul Merage School of Business - University ...

COLLABORATION
40
experience INNOVATION
Centering on the World:
Business Leaders and their Take on the Merage
School’s Centers of Excellence
Editor’s note: In each issue, we profile business leaders who recognize the Merage School itself as a key
business driver for innovation and growth. This edition focuses on members of the Dean’s Advisory
Board and champions of the Centers of Excellence, all innovative leaders in their fields.
Business leaders who volunteer their time and
expertise to educational organizations see
their participation as a way to give back. But
to those who helped charter the Merage
School’s Centers of Excellence, there’s something more.
With upheaval occurring across the economy, the political
landscape and indeed the world, many see the
Merage School Centers as catalysts for real change and
improvement. They see their roles as advisors, but also
as key players who can help solve problems and surmount
challenges in industries from health care to real
estate, on local levels and across the global stage. And
they have pinpointed the Centers of Excellence as the
places where it will all get done.
Toward More Effective Health Care Delivery
“We see the Merage Center for Health Care Management
and Policy as a key change agent in policy and delivery,”
says Dr. Richard Afable, President and CEO of Hoag
Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. “Its
record of innovation and discovery, its esteemed faculty,
and its ability to draw top policy experts poise the
Center to make a real impact on issues we’re interested
in, such as affordable health care delivery.”
Election year change notwithstanding, Afable is excited
about the Center’s role in the year ahead. “We can
and will make a difference to improve quality of care for
patients throughout the country.”
Under the leadership of noted health care economics
scholar Professor Paul J. Feldstein (the Robert
Gumbiner Chair in Health Care Management) the Center
brings together the Merage School's key health care policy
and education areas.
But Feldstein, Afable and the others agree that the
Center is not just for the pundits. “One of the challenges
in health care is that everyone — from consumers to
providers—needstobemuchbetterinformedabout
health care issues,” says Jeff Margolis, Chairman and
CEO of the TriZetto Group. “We see one of the Center’s
roles as a provider of accessible information.”
The Center is currently focused on issues such as
insurance coverage and third party payers and is examining
innovative new approaches to heath care. Its
annual Health Care Forecast Conference draws national
policymakers and thought leaders to discuss trends and
look toward the future of health care.
Wealth Management: Building a Strong
Portfolio of Resources
While health care reform continues to be a hot button
issue, another area identified by the Merage School as a
vital concern in the current
economy is the wealth man-
“It’s exciting to be
agement industry. And
business leaders once again at the ground floor
are looking to the Merage
School to provide leadership. of an opportunity
Jane Buchan, Founder and
CEO of Pacific Alternative to do something
Asset Management Company
positive for the
(PAAMCO), recently partnered
with the Merage community.
”
School to solidify its position
as a research center for the
industry. Buchan is the Founding Sponsor of the School’s
Center for Investment and Wealth Management. She