Blaustein to provide financial leadership as Underwriters Laboratories organizations grow to help solve urgent global safety challenges
Global safety science leader Underwriters Laboratories Inc. announced that Ron Blaustein has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO).
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Underwriters Laboratories is in the midst of a significant expansion in both scope and scale to tackle the increasingly urgent safety science challenges the world now faces. Blaustein oversees financials for both the Underwriters Laboratories Research organization and the new Underwriters Laboratories Standards and Engagement organization announced in February as part of a $1.8 billion commitment to better address today’s increasingly complex public safety risks and challenges.
As both the Research and Standards and Engagement organizations grow, Blaustein will provide financial stewardship, leadership and guidance aligned with the organizations’ strategic operating plans.
“Underwriters Laboratories has a history of accelerating scientific discoveries that make our homes, workplaces and communities safer,” Blaustein said. “As CFO, I’m committed to providing effective financial leadership as we grow to deepen our impact and further advance the public good. I’m grateful for the opportunity to tackle the tough issues we face today by building on our enterprise’s legacy.”
In his role, Blaustein leads a world-class finance function that will deploy resources to support the Research organization’s ability to sense and act on risks to public safety across a broad range of critical fields. Backed by the recent financial commitment, the Research organization will dedicate more resources to exploring emerging human safety risks presented by technological innovations such as autonomous systems and artificial intelligence, among others. Blaustein also will build a finance team to help steer the Standards and Engagement organization as it advances its role as a critical facilitator of public-private partnerships around the world through safety advocacy campaigns and standards creation collaborations with regulators and policymakers.
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“Our landmark financial commitment and new ability to deliver on our mission through two distinctly focused organizations enable us to grow our capacity and resources faster than ever before,” said Terrence R. Brady, president and CEO of the Underwriters Laboratories Research organization and board chair of the Underwriters Laboratories Standards and Engagement organization. “I am confident that Ron Blaustein, with his wealth of experience and demonstrated integrity, is the right leader to steward our financial future. The board and I are terrifically pleased to welcome Ron to our executive team.”
Blaustein comes to Underwriters Laboratories from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where he served as senior vice president and CFO since 2014. He was named CFO of the Year in 2019 by Financial Executives International. Blaustein joined Lurie Children’s Hospital in 2006 and joined Northwestern Medicine in 1997, after beginning his career at PwC.
Blaustein holds an MBA, with a focus on finance, strategy and health services management, from Northwestern University. He received bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematical methods in the social sciences, also from Northwestern. He will be based out of the Underwriters Laboratories headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois.
Active in the Chicago area, Blaustein serves as a board member of Northwestern University Hillel and volunteers for CJE SeniorLife. He also is a member and past subcommittee chair of the Economic Club of Chicago and on the finance committee of Keshet, which provides services for adults and children with disabilities.
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