Paul Nielsen to Co-Teach New Course on Entrepreneurial Approaches to Health Care at Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy announced today that Paul Nielsen, Vice President of Strategic Programs in the Optum Advanced Technology Collaborative of UnitedHealth Group (UHG), has joined its faculty as an instructor in the Master of Medical Management (MMM) program.

The MMM program is a cohort-based professional degree exclusively for physicians with five or more years of post-residency experience, and is designed to promote effective management techniques among health care practitioners. Leveraging physicians’ unique position of knowledge and authority in the field, the MMM program is the ideal fit for those looking to transition into executive and leadership roles at health organizations and who want to be equipped with essential quantitative, evidence-based management, and strategic skills when making the leap. 

"It is an honor to join the faculty at Heinz College," said Nielsen. "The program is highly regarded for enhancing physicians’ leadership capacity, while also building professional networks with their cohort members who are fellow future leaders in the health care space.”

A global executive with more than 25 years of technology and business experience, Nielsen leads Optum’s Strategic Programs and directs Optum’s College of Artificial Intelligence, as well as the UHG Academy of Technology and Strategic Industry Partnerships. Nielsen’s diverse experience includes designing and developing software and hardware solutions for the telecommunications, IT service provider, health care and CE industries as well as building professional relationships with CEOs, CTOs and managing partners at venture capital investment firms. 

Nielsen will co-teach the newly created “Entrepreneurial Approach to Health Care” course as part of the MMM program, which will focus on applying the entrepreneurial mindset to large health care systems and related organizations. The introductory class will begin in February 2020. Students will develop their own entrepreneurial initiative plans through the spring, and upon returning to campus in September, will present their ideas and plans to the class and professors.  

“We are thrilled to have Nielsen as part of the team,” said Jackie Speedy, associate dean of Heinz College. “Students, faculty and staff will benefit from his knowledge and years of experience in the industry, and we look forward to the seeing the success of the new course.” 

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About Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy
The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy is home to two internationally recognized graduate-level institutions at Carnegie Mellon University: the School of Information Systems and Management and the School of Public Policy and Management. This unique colocation combined with its expertise in analytics set Heinz College apart in the areas of cybersecurity, health care, the future of work, smart cities, and arts & entertainment. In 2016, INFORMS named Heinz College the #1 academic program for Analytics Education. For more information, please visit www.heinz.cmu.edu.