David Cordani ’88, president and CEO of Cigna Corporation, to speak at Texas A&M University Sept. 18

David Cordani ’88, president and CEO of Cigna Corporation, will speak at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School Sept. 18. The program will be in Wehner 113 from 12:40 p.m.to 1:30 p.m.

No American university has turned out more Fortune 100 company CEOs than Texas A&M, according to a recent U.S. News & World Report ranking. Now Mays is bringing one of those CEOs home. Cordani graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and earned an MBA from the University of Hartford. He is an accomplished athlete, having competed in more than 125 triathlons.

Cordani will share his perspective on improving health care, now and for the future. He believes that today’s health care dialogue is too narrowly focused on lowering health costs. This focus, he says, inevitably results in an emphasis on an old model based on financing “sick” care. Rather, he believes, our dialogue should place greater emphasis on building a more sustainable health care system that better engages individuals in their own care management. This can be accomplished, he says, by focusing on three foundational elements: 1) Aligning the incentives for everyone involved in the health care process; 2) Embracing value-based payments and rewards and 3) Executional excellence, aided by information and insight.

James Benjamin, head of the accounting department at Mays, remembers Cordani as a student. “David Cordani’s relatively quick rise to be one of the leaders in the health care field is particularly remarkable,” Benjamin said. “I am confident he will continue to make important contributions to this very important field.”

In 2009, Cordani became president and CEO of Cigna, a company he has worked with for more than 24 years. He has spearheaded its transformation into a leading global health service company, doubling the size of the company in five years. He is a prominent voice addressing key health challenges, such as empowering individuals to manage their own health, innovating new health delivery models focused on patients’ health improvements and partnering with physicians to focus on wellness and improving clinical quality.

Cordani leads Cigna’s more than 37,000 employees in more than 30 countries in improving the health, well-being and sense of security of the more than 88 million customer relationships.

Prior to joining Cigna, Cordani was with Coopers & Lybrand. He actively works with the March of Dimes, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Achilles International Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans, and is a charter board member of ChildObesity180. Cordani was named to the General Mills Board of Directors in 2014 and to the U.S.-India Business Council Board of Directors in 2015.

For information, contact Diane McDonald at dmcdonald@mays.tamu.edu or 979-845-0193.

*Registration is not required for current students and faculty

ABOUT MAYS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,900 undergraduate, master and doctoral students in accounting, business, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.