Dr. Rajiv J. Shah on Sustainable Futures

As president of the Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Rajiv J. Shah has made international development his mission. During a visit to NYU Shanghai on April 26 he joined Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman and NYU Shanghai students for a conversation about the importance of multi-cultural innovation in building a sustainable and equitable future.

Asked how cooperative efforts could be galvanized to address humanity's critical issues, Shah said leaders needed to look for solutions both internally and externally: “Industrial development and human development go hand in hand, and leaders from all parts of the world need to recognize that progress starts with leadership at home,” he said.

“Then, institutions like Rockefeller and others can support by helping from abroad,” added Dr. Shah, who has contributed over 20 years of experience in business, government, and philanthropy to the Rockefeller Foundation.

Appointed USAID Administrator by President Obama in 2009, Dr. Shah was charged with reshaping the $20 billion agency’s operations to provide greater assistance to pressing development challenges around the globe. He cited the importance of elevating innovation, promoting public-private partnerships, and shifting how money was spent in order to deliver stronger results.

He said that innovation was key to secure bipartisan support that enabled USAID to dramatically accelerate its work to end extreme poverty.

"I spent a few days in Beijing and now in Shanghai, and met with tech companies that are developing artificial intelligence that will allow medical providers--without having to interact with patients face to face--to use basic diagnostic data and machine learning algorithms to offer treatment from afar,” said Dr. Shah. “I can see how those kinds of tools can be applied around the world to save lives and improve the welfare of children and families.”

"Based on results alone, China has been the most successful nation in history to reduce extreme poverty, address widespread and massive hunger challenges, wipe out to a large extent the mortality and morbidity from communicable disease, and broadly expand energy so that as many as 700 million people have effectively moved out of a condition of poverty,” he said.

“I think it is incumbent upon a nation that has been so successful having that recent experience, to share that experience with other parts of the world and be part of the effort to achieve sustainable development goals going forward," he added.

Dr. Shah also turned the microphone on NYU Shanghai students Nofar Hamrany, Jack Hua Zhu, and Hank Wu, who shared their future plans to affect positive change around the world.

"I want to work on developing programs with the UN or World Bank, to develop water resource programs because I know that water is becoming more scarce,” said Nofar about her postgraduate study plans. “My hopes and dreams are pretty big.”

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The Conversations with the Vice Chancellor interview series features encounters between NYU Shanghai’s Vice Chancellor Jeffrey S. Lehman and leading figures from the worlds of business, public policy, international affairs, science, and the arts.