“I now analyze problems by looking for deeper causes and viewing them multi-dimensionally, which often paves the way to solutions.”

For seven years, Thomas Campbell Jackson accumulated a wealth of health policy experience working for the Research and Evaluation Office of the City of New York's Employee Health Benefits Program. "Within that system, I recognized that certain problems emerged again and again," says Mr. Jackson, who at that time served as assistant director of the program.

"Eventually, I decided that to broaden my perspective and sharpen my problem solving skills, I would benefit from returning to the classroom." Lured by an encouraging colleague who was also a faculty member at the Mailman School, Mr. Jackson left city government to pursue a degree in health policy and management.

After graduating in 1998, he was offered the position of director of the City's Health Benefits Program, where he employed many of the skills he had acquired at the Mailman School, including those in accounting, budgeting, statistics, and data analysis.

"I value those tools and use them to this day. But just as important for me was the 'big picture' perspective I acquired," he explains. Mr. Jackson adds: "I now analyze problems by looking for deeper causes and viewing them multidimensionally, which often paves the way to solutions."