Ronald A. Williams

Former Chairman and CEO, Aetna

Ronald A. Williams is the former Chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc., a leading diversified health care benefits company. During his tenure, Aetna was named FORTUNE's most admired company in the Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care category for three consecutive years. In 2011, Aetna’s revenues were $34 billion, and the company was ranked 77th on the FORTUNE 100 list. Mr. Williams served as both Chairman and CEO of Aetna from 2006 to 2010, and as Chairman from November 2010 to April 2011.  Under his leadership, Aetna sought to make a positive impact on health care in America by serving as a catalyst for change, focusing the industry, public policy leaders, physicians and employers on issues aimed at increasing access and affordability, and transforming American health care into a more efficient system that delivers greater value to all Americans. 

Following his retirement from Aetna in 2011, Mr. Williams founded RW-2 Enterprises, LLC, (www.ronwilliams.net), a business advisory firm which serves as a platform for his Private Equity, Corporate Board, consulting, speaking, and philanthropic activities. Mr. Williams currently serves on the Board of Directors of American Express Company, The Boeing Company and Johnson & Johnson. He is an operating advisor to the private equity firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC, and serves as Chairman of CD&R’s portfolio company, Emergency Medical Services Corporation (EMSC), a $3.5 billion provider of facility-based physician and medical transportation services.

Mr. Williams serves on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s North America Executive Board, is a member of the Business Council, and Vice Chairman of the Conference Board of Trustees. He also serves on the boards of Save the Children and the National Academy Foundation, and is a member of the Peterson Center on Healthcare Advisory Board, RAND Health Advisory Board, and the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on Political Reform (CPR). In 2013, Mr. Williams was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an independent, multidisciplinary policy research center founded in 1780. 

Prior to joining Aetna, Mr. Williams was a member of the Office of the Chairman at WellPoint Health Networks Inc. where he served as Group President, and President of the company’s Blue Cross of California subsidiary.  Mr. Williams joined WellPoint’s predecessor firm Blue Cross of California in 1987. 

Mr. Williams is a graduate of Roosevelt University and holds an M.S. in Management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.