Boon Ooi
Vice President, Global Compensation, Benefits & HRIS, Ryder System, Inc.
Education: Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Bates College in Maine; MBA in Finance from University of Chicago
What I’m Reading: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
My Philosophy:Always Share Your Good Fortune
Interests: Travel & Photography
Company Headquarters: Miami, Florida
Website: www.ryder.com
Primary Business: Transportation and Logistics
Annual Revenues: $6.1 billion
How has your heritage been beneficial or helpful in your career/and or business relationships?
My parents instilled in me the importance of always working with integrity and honesty and treating everyone with mutual respect. This has always served as my guiding principle for how I approach my work and people. Also, the support of my wife, who is not Asian, contributes immensely to helping me connect my heritage to the broader society in this country.
“Cultivate good, sincere trusting relationships with people from all groups. Cross boundaries of ethnical, cultural and religion and learn from all people who have a different background.”
What do you think is the greatest issue or dilemma facing the Asian/Pacific-American community today?
Insufficient political involvement, which means a lack of a voice from Asian Americans. There is so much progressive technological advancement in the world, much of which is being driven in the Asia/Pacific region. I think if this group had more of a voice in the U.S., then we may see more opportunities to leverage progress here as well.
How do you think Asian Americans have evolved in terms of industry/field diversity?
I think that generally, Asian Americans are drawn to more technical positions (IT, engineering, medical) and not often seen in HR roles. I think in time, after becoming more comfortable with some of the cultural hurdles, there is a tremendous opportunity to have Asian Americans in some of the softer skills areas such as human resources and/or communications.
