Professor of Economics Randall (Randy) P. Ellis has been awarded the Victor R. Fuchs Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Field of Health Economics for his notable research in health economics. This is the highest award of the American Society of Health Economists and recognizes an economist who has produced significant research in health economics.
Ellis has devoted over 40 years to researching the intersection of healthcare and economic policies. He studied economics at Yale (B.A.), the London School of Economics and Political Science (M.S.), and MIT (PhD) before joining the Boston University faculty in 1981.
Ellis’ fields include industrial organization, econometrics, and public economics. He has authored and co-authored 140 articles, most notably on risk adjustment. In recent years, he has taught courses in Health Economics at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He received the Fuchs Award at the American Society for Health Economics (ASHEcon) conference in San Diego in June.
Arts × Sciences spoke with Dr. Ellis when he returned from San Diego about his award, research, and time as a professor:
You were recently awarded the American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon) Lifetime Achievement Award. Can you share what the recognition means to you?
The Victor R. Fuchs Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Field of Health Economics was incredibly meaningful to me. I was recognized for over 40 years working in the field, not only as a successful author and teacher but also for the impact I made in the profession. As one of the founders of ASHEcon, I never missed a meeting for its first 20 years, so earning this award validates the already fulfilling time and effort I put into the field and perhaps will inspire others.
What inspired you to pursue a career in economics? What guided your research and teaching at BU in health economics?
Without realizing it, I started thinking like an economist very early because my father was an economist. In high school, my parents and friends always assumed I would become a scientist because I loved models and precision. But I read a lot of books, and after working two summers as a camp counselor for inner-city underprivileged children, I learned that society’s biggest challenges were more about people and social sciences than technology. After that, I took every social science I could in my freshman and sophomore years of high school; I also took several math classes, but never any science ones. What quickly drew me to economics was that it was the most quantitative and model-oriented social science at the time.
In my acceptance speech for this award, I specifically thanked three people. First, my BU economics colleague, Tom McGuire, lured me into health economics from my previous work on energy and the environment, because of the wonderful big data and exciting research topics which continue to inspire me. Tom and I have co-authored 28 publications together.
Second, I thanked BU statistician, mathematician, and long-time friend Arlene Ash, previously at the BU School of Medicine, with whom I have written 38 papers and government reports, even more than Tom. Working with teams of physicians, statisticians, and policymakers has greatly increased the policy impact of my research.
Third, I thanked econometrician Daniel McFadden (MIT), with whom I have written zero papers, but who wrote one page of very impactful handwritten notes about my thesis and my presentation. His private notes were a wonderful lesson that carefully written constructive suggestions are often much better than verbal comments and criticisms. My students and colleagues often thank me for writing notes about their papers and presentations, since I try to do the same.
What advice would you give to young researchers aspiring to make an impact in health economics?
Don’t be afraid to think big and aim high. In my area of health economics, we’re always using big data so the secret to success is getting large grants that can support teams of diverse workers and enable the purchase of data. Collaborating with experienced researchers is the best way of refining ideas and above all finishing, submitting, and revising work to get it published in top journals. Early on in a career, it is usually best to find a promising niche area of research and develop several highly impactful papers on one area that move the field forward. But for a lasting contribution, think broadly and synthesize ideas across diverse fields. Today, many of the highest-impact publications are interdisciplinary. Seek out others with different backgrounds and fields to broaden your research and teaching, and strive to talk to as many diverse audiences that disseminate and improve your ideas.
Reflecting on your career, what has been the most rewarding and/or challenging aspect of being an economist in your field?
Something, both rewarding and challenging about my field is keeping up with the enormous growth of new ideas and methodologies. I am constantly updating my teaching material and trying out new methods. I have always liked to follow research in many diverse fields, including psychology, sociology, history, and politics. More narrowly, in economics, I am a big fan of behavioral economics, which highlights ways in which markets and decision-making often do not adhere to conventional economics models. Sharing a blog called BUHealth with BU students, faculty, alumni, and friends gives me an excuse to read and synthesize diverse ideas and discover new topics of interest. I am grateful to my wife and BU for enabling me to spend sabbaticals from BU to travel, do research, and publish on five continents. Being familiar with institutions and ways of thinking in diverse countries has richened my research and teaching.
Lastly, what are your plans for the future? Any upcoming projects or areas of research you are excited about?
I am looking forward to taking my sixth sabbatical this coming year, spending the fall at the BU School of Public Health, and the spring at the Toulouse School of Economics. My research agenda in three areas is already overflowing. First, I want to expand the research I have already conducted that uses a trained machine learning algorithm to develop payment formulas that predict the healthcare needs and spending of individuals based on their health and demographic characteristics. Arlene Ash and I were two of the primary architects of payment formulas currently used to transfer billions of dollars each year between competing health plans in the Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and the Obamacare Marketplace. I have one large grant proposal pending and hope to write another that I would update these formulas using big data and better models.
Second, the US healthcare system is a disaster, with excessive costs, uneven quality and access, and terrible provider and patient incentives. A former PhD student and I have a paper with ideas that need to be updated and promoted. We will see if its ideas can have an impact. Third, for the last five years, I have become passionate about issues related to equity and fairness. In collaboration with many faculty and student collaborators, we are organizing and processing big data to study systemic sexism, racism, and nationality bias in the US. This funded work is still in progress, and it would be premature to reveal much more about it at this time.
Interview by Rayea Jain (COM’26).