From Aggie Leader To Global Health: Dr. Patrick Conway’s Path To Purpose

As CEO of Optum — a health care giant serving more than 150 million people globally — Patrick Conway, M.D. ’96, oversees decisions that impact the health care system daily. But if you heard him describe his career path, you might not believe him when he tells you it was unplanned. Conway had no master plan, no linear climb up a corporate ladder, but rather a series of strategic “yes” decisions that led to opportunities and built momentum.

His journey as an ambitious undergraduate genetics major at Texas A&M is also a testament to that. Conway knew he wanted to tackle the health care system’s biggest challenges one day, but his post-graduation options could not have been more different: he either wanted to join the Peace Corps, go to medical school or get into health care consulting.

Now, nearly three decades later, Conway is the newly appointed CEO of Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group and a global health care company. Looking back on the pivotal moments and decisions that culminated in him taking the helm of Optum, he shares how the experiences and skills he gained as an Aggie have helped shape who he is today and affect change throughout his career.

From Individual Patient Care To National Policy To The Boardroom

Eventually, Conway decided against the Peace Corps and entered medical school after putting in some time in health care consulting at McKinsey & Co. He attended Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he earned his master’s degree in health services research and health policy, and completed a residency program at Harvard Medical School, where he met his wife, Heather.

Since then, he has remained driven by his determination to improve the health care system and has taken on diverse roles across the health care industry, gaining invaluable insights from each vantage point. From health care consulting to the examination room as a practicing pediatrician, and from there to hospital administration and the boardroom as CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina — he’s seen nearly every side of the health care system. Along the way, Conway has had many other transformative experiences before he joined Optum in 2020, including time as a White House fellow and pivotal roles as chief medical officer for Health and Human Services and in Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

His career is impressive. But Conway traces his foundations back to the value of education and service instilled by his parents and his time at Texas A&M. His undergraduate years were filled with key experiences that broadened his horizons, connected him with lifelong friends and taught him how to be a leader—experiences that would fundamentally shape the path ahead.

Involvement As An Aggie Made Its Mark

Although Conway grew up in College Station and his parents both worked at the university — his mother, Diane Conway, retired as the assistant dean of business and finance at Mays Business School, and his father, Dwight Conway, was a tenured chemistry professor — it was an academic scholarship that got him in the door to attend Texas A&M.

Similar to how many students begin their journey, he soon found himself engaging in traditions, going to all of the athletic events and jumping on opportunities to get involved on campus. One of the first catalytic experiences he had was a trip to Italy through the Champe Fitzhugh International Honors Leadership Seminar with 40 other National Merit Scholars, many of whom he is still friends with today. It was the first time he had been out of the country and the trip opened his eyes to the world outside of Texas.

From there, he would go on to study abroad in Salamanca, Spain, become a Fish Camp co-chair, spend time as a student senator and also tap into his creative side as chair of MSC Town Hall. In true Aggie spirit, he and his friends founded MSC Coffeehouse, which is a part of MSC Town Hall that still showcases live local talent on campus, accompanied by coffee and snacks. Conway’s act? Stand-up comedy.

It was his senior year, however, that was truly a game-changer.

Conway credits his role as MSC president during his senior year with providing his first substantial leadership experience. This is where he says he learned the fundamentals of running an organization — skills that would serve him well throughout his career and leave him with leadership principles he still lives by.

“The role I held as MSC president was really similar to running a nonprofit organization. As a student, you get incredible experience working with a budget and learning how to motivate a team of volunteers around you. It was a great lesson in leadership, management, and business. Today, I see that the skills then are the same skills I use now — leading with honesty and integrity, listening well, building a great team, getting people in the right spots, having a strategy to relentlessly execute, but always staying focused on service and the people you’re serving. That’s what you learn as an Aggie — those Core Values never leave you.”

Paying It Forward

Although Optum serves more than 150 million people, Conway has never forgotten that every individual matters. Whether it’s the patients he’s serving as a practicing pediatrician, delivering health care services that people rely on, or meeting with student leaders that he and his family invest in through endowment scholarships or who have held the same role as MSC president — he knows the power of investing in individuals, because that’s what happened for him.

As he meets with students, he notes that so many remind him of his younger self. They are eager, ambitious, and maybe not quite sure what’s next — but wanting to make their mark some way. That’s why he feels it’s so important to give back to the Texas A&M community that helped build him. “Texas A&M invested in me, donors invested in me, that had a big impact on my life — now I want to pay it forward,” Conway said.

His advice to current students about getting involved at Texas A&M? “Do it.”

“Do it. Do whatever you’re interested in. My freshman year, I really tried to look around and I joined quite a few things. I wanted to experience different things on campus and it served me well. It will serve you well, too. Of course, pay attention to the academics, but be sure to make the most of one of Texas A&M’s distinctive qualities, which is leadership training both inside and outside the classroom.”

Learn More About Conway’s Philanthropy And Involvement

Conway is a member of the Division of Student Affairs Development Council, a group that supports the Vice President of Student Affairs to help promote the student experience at Texas A&M and assist in fundraising and development strategy efforts.

Conway also has endowed the Champe Fitzhugh International Honors Leadership Seminar, which is now called the Conway-Fitzhugh International Honors Leadership Seminar, which selects up to 24 high-achieving freshmen to participate in a two-week international leadership development experience, typically in Italy. The program focuses on understanding global leadership, exploring its various aspects and applying it to personal development and involvement at Texas A&M.

To carry on the legacy of his parents, he and his siblings created the Diane ’82 and Dwight Conway President’s Endowed Scholarship, which provides a stipend for one student for four years, plus a bonus for a study abroad experience. The Conways hope it will attract talented students to Texas A&M and allow them to engage in student life, participate in leadership and service roles, and spend their summers researching, traveling or interning.

Individually, Dr. Conway also gives a President’s Endowed Scholarship with his wife, Heather, and supports other programs at Texas A&M through the Texas A&M Foundation and MSC Programs.