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State Farm CEO Ed Rust is always thinking about the future, whether he's investing in education initiatives, promoting the benefits of financial planning, or making sure the insurance giant adapts to a changing market. A man in the insurance industry is always looking ahead. He's constantly wondering what might go wrong next week or next year—and what he can do today to fix it. Edward B. Rust Jr. thinks about the future even more than most people in the business, because he's not just focused on property and casualty insurance. As chairman and CEOof State Farm Insurance Companies in Bloomington, Illinois, he's over- seen the expansion of the company into financial services lines, which allow customers to plan for college and retirement. And he's turned himself into a champion of education, which is the ultimate investment in the future. For someone who was practically born into the insurance industry, Rust almost didn't realize his destiny. His grandfather, Adlai, ran State Farm from 1954 to 1958; his father, Edward, was CEO until 1985. Nonetheless, the younger Rust originally planned to pursue a career in engineering. Later, as he attended Illinois Wesleyan University, he became more interested in business and accounting. Another shift in career goals led him to obtain his joint JD/MBA degree at Southern Methodist University. Having studied securities and tax law, Rust was all set to take an offer with a major law firm. But conversations with his father convinced him that he should give the insurance indus- try a try. He joined State Farm's regional office in 1975 as a trainee. When his father died ten years later, Rust took over State Farm as president and CEO. He was 35 years old. During his 20 years heading the company, Rust has main- tained State Farm's position as an industry leader. Outside the office, his deep interest in education has led him to co-chair the Business Coalition for Excellence in Education, serve on President Bush's education advisory committee, chair the Business Higher Education Forum, and commit his organiza- tion to a number of educational initiatives. In one, a collabo- ration with the National Service-Learning Partnership, State Farm provides six K–12 school districts with $5,000 each to fund the integration of service-learning projects into the aca- demic curriculum. For his efforts in supporting education, Rust was one of six individuals honored with the National Promise of America Award last May. Sponsored by America's Promise—The Alliance for Youth, the awards were presented at the White House during a dinner hosted by Laura Bush. Rust will be a keynote speaker at AACSB's International Conference and Annual Meeting April 21–23 in San Fran - cisco, where he'll share his views about the collaboration between corporations and educational institutions. An invest- ment in education, he knows, is one sure way to guarantee that business will be on the right road in the future. by Sharon Shinn You were 35 when you became CEO of State Farm. What were the keys to being successful at such a young age? I was most fortunate in that a number of people from my father's senior management team mentored me and shared their time, perspectives, and experiences. In addition, having MBA and law degrees gave me analytical tools that helped me understand the business. Both law school and business school teach you to do a deep and thorough analysis of a situation, but in law school you don't always have an oppor- tunity to argue the side you want. That forces you to develop a broader understanding of an issue. The regimen of an MBA program also gives you analytical skills. You learn how to peel back the layers so you can understand the core issue. You also learn what kind of options you have in addressing that issue and moving it in a preferred direction. What have you discovered on the job that you hadn't learned in business or law school? It's often much easier to implement actions on paper than it is in life. Leadership requires understanding the people you work with and the organization you lead. You need to devel- op a feel for the organization—what gives it vitality, what motivates it, what issues are of deep concern. You have to be cognizant of these as you work to make adjustments. Education is important to you as an individual and a CEO. What motivated you to take up edu- cation as your personal cause? I think the whole concept of lifelong learning is more rele- vant today than ever before. It's scary to realize that the skill sets we possess today are likely to be inadequate five years from now, just due to the normal pace of change. As more young people come into the workforce, they need a deeper, fundamental understanding of the basic skills—not just to get a job, but to grow with the job as their responsibilities change over their lifetimes. Thirty years ago, some of the kids I went to high school with planned to take jobs at the local assembly plant, put in their 35 years, and retire. Those jobs don't exist any more. And the jobs that do exist demandmuch higher skill sets than the ones those people originally possessed. Workers today need to have the ability to grow with the changes. Are institutions of higher learning effectively help- ing workers acquire these necessary new skills? I think community colleges play an important role for the BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2005 19