STEVEN KADISH

The former director of global health equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, starts June 15 as senior vice president and strategic advisor to president-elect Dr. Jim Yong Kim.

How do you navigate a large institution that’s new to you? I’ve had the opportunity to work at a variety of institutions with new leaders, so there’s a certain mental framework I have that might work. I’ll ask questions, then adjust it as I learn. Conversations with people let me find out the risks and concerns that are out there, and what their ideas are for the future. I hope to meet eight to 10 people a day, just to learn.

I’ve had the opportunity to work at a variety of institutions with new leaders, so there’s a certain mental framework I have that might work. I’ll ask questions, then adjust it as I learn. Conversations with people let me find out the risks and concerns that are out there, and what their ideas are for the future. I hope to meet eight to 10 people a day, just to learn.

What are the pluses and minuses of having fewer than four years of experience in academia?

I understand the basics now more than I ever did working on the outside, from faculty appointments to how departments work, how grants and development work. I understand the bones and vocabulary. But I’ve only done it in one place, so I’m bringing just one particular set of experiences here, and I know that over time you get better—and that’s my intention.

Did you ever visit Hanover while you were a student at Tufts?

No. I always wanted to make it to Winter Carnival but never got to.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Build stone walls. Hiking, skiing and snowshoeing. My wife, Linda, and I are winter people, so when we vacation we tend to go where it’s colder.