ILR News Center

King-Shaw '83 out front on global health care issues

Ruben J. King-Shaw, Jr. '83 is receiving the 2008 ILR School Jerome Alpern Award. Established in 1997 and named to honor Alpern '49, the award is given to an alumnus who has demonstrated outstanding service and support to the ILR School, and it recognizes those whose career accomplishments have been primarily outside the field of industrial and labor relations.

King-Shaw's distinguished career includes high-level positions in the public and private sectors, with a focus on the health care industry. Currently, he is Chairman and CEO of Mansa Equity Partners, Inc., private equity investors whose portfolio includes several health care companies. He has served as COO and deputy administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; senior advisor to the secretary of the U.S. Treasury, and secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. King-Shaw has counseled governors and health ministers in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa on topics of economic development and health care delivery systems. He has also counseled American presidents.

Today, King-Shaw is actively involved with the ILR School and Cornell University. He is a member of the ILR Dean's Advisory Council and, with his wife, established an endowment to support ILR diversity initiatives. He talks about his interesting career path and the central role an ILR education played in developing his leadership skills and guiding his professional success, and shares his perspectives on winning this year's Alpern Award.

Q: You've been very successful in the health care field, but someone might wonder how an ILR degree led you down that career path. How did that happen?

Actually, my involvement in health care has been a natural and clear progression that started with my time at ILR. When I arrived on "The Hill" as a freshman at ILR in 1979, health care costs had become a dominant labor issue. General Motors and General Electric were involved in intense negotiations around health care benefits. Managed care companies and HMOs started to come onto the scene as employer-sponsored health care cost -- and, thus, labor cost -- containment strategies.
I developed a keen interest in that intersection between labor economics, health care administration and public policy. My epiphany came when I took an ILR course on economic security and learned of the mounting pressures on America's safety net: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. I thought to myself, "This is going to be a big deal. If I could become a specialist in this area, I'd have a great career."

Upon graduating, I was one of the few in that era who had looked at health care in terms of its role in driving labor costs, the competitiveness of America's products and its implications for public policy. I was quickly deemed an expert in this area and I was only 20-something!

Yet, mine is a typical ILR success story. The most successful ILR graduates can integrate studies ranging from Organizational Behavior to Human Resources to Labor History and apply that knowledge to whatever interests them. When you leave ILR, you graduate with the ability to lead and to succeed in any field, any kind of organization.

Q: You've said that when you leave ILR, you're fully prepared to understand "how the world works" and to be a leader in just about any field. Can you say more about that?

I got an early understanding that my education at ILR was going to be more than just being taught how to negotiate a labor agreement, either for labor or management. When I say that ILR teaches us "how the world works," I mean that the ILR curriculum focuses on how work gets done in any context throughout the world. Whenever people interact with each other for some desired outcome, that's work. The environmental issues such as the values, behaviors and perspectives of those engaged in the work are as important as the legal, production and measurement aspects of the workplace.

ILR taught me how to diagnose the cultures and structures in any organization, and then how to navigate that landscape to achieve my objectives. In my view, the greatest value of an ILR education is that it teaches us to be leaders in whatever organization in which we find ourselves. Wherever work is being done -- such as in a small business, on a farm, with a union, for a cause, at a corporation or by the government, in a major American city or in a tiny African village – ILR prepares us to understand, to engage and to lead. That’s what makes ILR special and truly the best -- the pinnacle of our discipline.

Q: Like so many Cornellians, I know that you feel a real sense of connection to the university, and to ILR specifically. What motivates you to stay involved?

Cornell has such a wonderful story and purpose. It was founded at the close of the Civil War – a time of major pivotal change for our nation -- as a new and powerful idea, a place where any person is welcome to study the classics as well as to learn to solve real-world problems. When you think about it, ILR is a great example of what Ezra Cornell anticipated. The ILR School was established when our nation was enduring great labor strife. The workplace was changing. New York state and our nation needed extraordinary individuals to study these problems and to prepare extraordinary leaders who could solve them.

ILR is the only school or college dedicated to this purpose. Thus, when I talk about ILR, I don't just say "the ILR School," I say "THE ILR School," because it’s the only one of its kind. ILR is so precious, so valuable, so unique in the world that it needs and deserves protection and development to preserve its excellence.

I would not have had the opportunities I've enjoyed in my career without ILR, and the skills I gained there have enabled me to achieve extraordinary things. I think most ILR graduates can say the same. So why not express my appreciation by sharing my time and my financial success? ILR deserves that kind of support just as much as Harvard and Stanford. Given ILR’s singular status and public service mission, I'd say ILR deserves that support even more.

I'm very committed to promoting and advancing diversity at ILR. Diversity is important, especially when you consider that the school is preparing people to be leaders in the working world, and that world is increasingly diverse. When you’re at ILR, you’re among a group of students of many ethnicities and backgrounds. Being part of that diverse community, and what you can learn from others, becomes a big part of the education itself.

Q: Being recognized as the Alpern award winner is one of the School's highest honors. How does that feel?

This is the biggest and most meaningful award I will ever get, professionally and personally. When the best of the best – the best faculty, the most accomplished alumni – find my work to be worthy of this award, that means everything. These are people for whom I have the utmost respect. Jerome Alpern is a pioneer, and just to be associated with someone of such great accomplishment is so gratifying. Honestly, I never thought it would happen, winning this award.

I remember when I applied to ILR as a senior in high school, and I was told by some, "You’ll never get in. You’ll never make it." Now, all these years later, here I am, being honored with this award. There is no greater compliment. Accomplishment is the sweetest revenge.