Message from the CEO

Today, I am honored and excited to officially begin my role as the new president and CEO of the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). I am grateful to my predecessor, friend, and colleague John Ruser for his contributions of eight years. I want to thank the WCRI Board of Directors for their confidence in choosing me to lead WCRI into our next phase.

In 1996, I came to an interview with the founder and first CEO of WCRI, Rick Victor. He offered me a job and my life changed. I wanted to do meaningful work, and I found that here. WCRI has allowed me to provide policymakers and other stakeholders unbiased, quality information to make informed decisions.

In my various roles at WCRI, I have worked alongside our talented staff and participated in the development of our strong infrastructure. Our efforts created the WCRI Detailed Benchmark/Evaluation database, which allows the Institute to do more complex studies more quickly.

I have yet to have a day that I am bored. Workers’ compensation systems are multifaceted and fluid, evolving to meet the needs of those they support. WCRI’s work is similarly flexible and innovative, to better provide analysis and validation of changing systems. Our research approaches this familiar ground in fresh ways with reliability and credibility.

Our future holds abundant promise. WCRI will continue to provide the sound research, credible data, and objective analysis that contributes to informed debate—while avoiding taking positions or making policy recommendations—that our members and the public demand. We will bring WCRI to a higher level with timely data collection along with novel ways to access and interact with the research.

I would like to thank our members for their ongoing support of our research through their data, funding, and expertise. I am grateful for the strong guidance of the WCRI Board of Directors, Disability and Medical Management Program Advisory Board, Research Committee, WCRI State Advisory Committees, and countless practitioner reviewers. Join me in this new era for WCRI as we continue our important work.

Sincerely,

Ramona Tanabe
President and CEO