Health care management authority William L. Roberts, Austin College Class of 1973, will present the 2021 Todd A. Williams Executive-in-Residence Lecture Thursday, October 21, at 11 a.m. In an outdoor setting along Windsor Mall, near Wynne Chapel. The event is open to students, faculty, and staff only. Reservations are required.
Roberts, a longtime Baylor Scott & White executive, is a nationally recognized authority in health care reform response, hospital service line design and management, physician practice management, and physician hospital organizations. Prior to his 20 years with Baylor Scott & White Health, he was a principal in a leading health care consulting firm.
After a welcome and introductory comments by President Steven O’Day, Austin College senior Kathy Tran of Rowlett, Texas, will lead a conversation with Roberts so that those gathered can learn about his expertise in the business of healthcare and his guidance for the Austin College audience. Tran is completing a major in healthcare administration and a minor in chemistry, and, accepted into the Texas Joint Admission Medical School Program, is scheduled to complete her medical degree in 2026.
Tran is a Public Health Ambassador at Austin College and is involved in a research project on women’s health in conjunction with an Austin College faculty member. The senior has led every organization she has been part of on campus, including Pre-Health Society; Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow; Asian Student Association; and Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity—plus, she’s a violinist.
For 20 years, Roberts has been senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Baylor Scott & White Health. In that role, he was charged with guiding the company’s response to health care reform and specifically, developing population health strategies that serve patients, physicians, and payers. In this role, Roberts was founder and sponsoring executive of Population Health Advisors, a team of internal experts providing cutting edge consulting services to large, integrated systems seeking to retool for population health.
In these roles, and those like the formation and sponsorship of Project Access within HealthTexas, Roberts and his team challenged traditional systems of care to address their patient and community health needs with better tools, increased focus on chronic care, and a re-engineered delivery culture.
Roberts was a member of Baylor’s Executive Council, the Operations Council, and Clinical Transformation Committee. He was also co-chair of the Texas Care Alliance and served on the Board of the North Texas Health Care Partnership.
For 12 years before taking on that role, Roberts had been the president and CFO of HealthTexas Provider Network, a physician group practice of Baylor Scott & White Health North Texas Region and one of the premier physician medical groups in the nation. The network has more than 1,300 providers, 120 primary care centers, 230 specialty care locations, and more than 4,500 employees.
Roberts earned a master’s degree in health care administration from Trinity University. He also is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Professional Business Consultant.
The Todd A. Williams Executive-in-Residence Lecture connects Austin College students with leading business executives who speak about their practical life experiences in business and share lessons learned on their path to career success. The series is funded by gifts from Todd ’82 and Abby Williams of Dallas. Todd Williams continued his education at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned an MBA, and retired while still a young man as a managing director at Goldman Sachs.
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, global awareness, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 50 percent of students identifying as persons of color. The residential student body of approximately 1,300 students and an expert faculty of more than 100 educators allow a 12:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. Related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA), Austin College cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. The College, founded in 1849, is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.