Meet Robert Tillman | Connector, Conductor, and Talent Developer in Academic Medicine

We had the good fortune of connecting with Robert Tillman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Robert, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
So, I am not an entrepreneur but an intrapreneur, if that word exists. So, while I feel maybe like an interloper in this conversation, I would say that I bring the innovation part of entrepreneurship to institutions I have worked for in the talent development space. I am now working within my fifth organization, which has all been academic medical institutions except for one. My motivation for my work, “my why,” developed during my university experience as an undergrad and graduate student in the late 90s and early aughts, realizing that there was this gap between training, talent, and opportunity coming out of our colleges and universities. During my graduate studies, the reality that we were training more graduate students in my focus of biomedical sciences than there were faculty positions was starting to be talked about. I had the fortune to encounter the late Dr. Joel Oppenheim, who was then dean of Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at NYU, who saw the same gaps. He provided me the opportunity to develop a nascent program that, in part, would connect students and trainees with opportunities in careers that addressed not only their interest in biomedical sciences but could engage other talents and aspirations they had. After 20 years, I am still passionate about working with amazing innovators and entrepreneurs who are students, trainees, and faculty in helping connect training and talent with potential.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My career does look unusual in some ways, but the story that comes from reflecting on it and the wisdom of living is pretty coherent. I have always had a breadth of interests from a young age, a healthy habit of questioning why things were the way they were, an optimism and desire to improve things and see how that might be done, an awareness of changes on the horizon to pay attention to, and an interest in people from all walks of life. It was a colleague who told me a few years ago that I was a generalist through and through. It is these traits, abilities, and skills that have greatly impacted my career interests and path through five organizations. I was the undergraduate student who asked if I could take a business course for credit as an undergraduate student and was told I couldn’t due to my major, but now many colleges encourage – at least tolerate – mixing business with science. I was a trainee who (soft) lied about being an employee to take a management course offered by Organizational Development at NYU Medical Center, and then ran a pilot management course for postdocs with them a couple of years later. My career interest began as a student and trainee, asking if there could not be a better way to help support smart, talented people to find careers that fit them well. It has continued to this day working with that same question, still with student, and postdocs, and now with faculty who need to further define their interests and refine their skills and abilities to continue to thrive. My ability to do this across five institutions with differing organizational cultures, structures, and settings is based on those generalist skills that provide the range for success. It is about questioning, listening, finding the pain points, and where you can make the greatest impact. It is about being aware of the larger trends that will impact your approach, work, and priorities. It is about agility to make things work with the resources you have, to get the resources you need, and to adjust in the moment to move towards the goals. It is about my ability to establish strong relationships with people who can provide the skills and abilities I need on my team, and with all the institutional stakeholders who both support and benefit from my work.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are too many things to do in the Houston area, and more things are available every day. If the weather is nice – and that term has wide interpretation – I love to get outside. It might be a walk through Memorial Park and over to the Beer Can House. It might be to get up and take an early morning jog through Hermann Park under the oak trees and around the golf course. A bike ride along our Bayou trails is great for exercise and connecting. You can jump off for brunch or lunch in so many different neighborhoods. For farther trips, it would be a trip to Brazos Bend State Park for the gators, or maybe down to Galveston State Park or East Beach for some surf and sun. I would go to the Houston Museum of Fine Art on a Thursday evening to engage the visual artistic side. For lunch, I might do a quick visit to the Menil Collection, walk around the Menil neighborhood and the University of St. Thomas for good and healthy conversation, and then stop by a local restaurant for a quick bite. I had a great experience with brunch at The Post, and the view of the city from the roof is great. It would be even better if you had tickets for a concert there some evening. Space Center is also a must for my friends in science, and if you can swing the fee, the extended tour is worth it. Standing in the Apollo Mission Control is an amazing experience when we realize what was accomplished and how challenging space flight, let alone non-maned moon landings, are still today. Moving here from New York City, I believe the dining scene is second to none. One thing I have done is to have a friend pick a particular cuisine and then I plan out a series of meals visiting different restaurants that highlight that cuisine. When you have options that can fill out a week of options, in most circumstances, you know you are fortunate to be living where you are.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am inspired by those who, in seeking to make a positive difference, have asked me, “Why is…”, more inspired by those who have asked me, “How can I…” and most inspired by those who have said, “I want to…” Thank you to the late Dr. Joel Oppenheim at New York University; Dr. Anne Taylor at Columbia University; Janis Yadiny at MD Anderson; and Dr. BIykem Bozkurt at Baylor College of Medicine and all my other colleagues, collaborators, and friends who said “yes” when I said, “I want to…”

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tillman/

Twitter: @rtillman

Image Credits
Photo of ELAM: Baylor College of Medicine Photo with Grow Model: Karen Ethun, Gulf Coast Consortia