Shortell, Stephen M.

A highly distinguished scholar and well-respected leader in health services delivery systems in the United States, Stephen M. Shortell has had a very productive and influential career. His groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research projects have sought to identify and understand the interactions among business strategies, organizational structures, quality improvement processes, and performance of healthcare systems. One important outcome of Shortell's research has been a typology of healthcare systems alliances. His research also has focused on organizational attributes of physician group practices, with an ongoing interest in quality, outcomes of care, and strategic alliances between physicians and other healthcare entities. Woven throughout his ongoing program of research are questions about the effectiveness of total quality management (TQM), strategic change in the healthcare sector, and ways to enhance community-based initiatives to improve health. At the heart of his scholarly and intricate studies is a concern for improving the organization of health services as a means to improve the health of populations.

After receiving his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Notre Dame, Shortell completed a master of public health degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. Next, he received a master of business administration and a doctoral degree in behavioral science from the University of Chicago. In 1998, Shortell became dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health; Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management; and a professor of Organization Behavior at the Haas School of Business. He concurrently holds appointments in the Department of Sociology at Berkeley and the Institute for Health Policy Research at the University of California, San Francisco. For the 16 years prior to arriving at Berkeley, Shortell was A. C. Buehler Distinguished Professor of Health Services Management in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Over his long career, Shortell has received numerous distinguished awards for his various contributions. He received the Baxter-Allegiance Prize for innovative research and the Gold Medal from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM), in 1986 and served two terms on the Governing Council. He has served as editor-in-chief of Health Services [Page 1080]Research, president of the Association for Health Services Research, and chair of the Accrediting Commission for Graduate Education in Health Services Administration. More recently, Shortell was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He has received three “Book of the Year” awards from professional associations ranging from the American Nurses Association to the Academy of Management. The textbook Shortell wrote with Arnold D. Kaluzny is now in its fifth edition. It was one of the first textbooks written specifically for health services managers and researchers.

The extent of Shortell's accomplishments is a testament to both his keen intellect and his ready willingness to engage with others in the pursuit of knowledge.