The 2004 recipient of NCA's Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguish Applied Scholarship, Brent Ruben's professional record spans more than three decades and has focused in four major areas: organizational development, communication/information systems, medical/health communication, and intercultural communication. In this commentary, Ruben addresses the parallels between interpersonal and organizational communication in both healthcare and higher education systems, and describes the research being conducted at the Rutgers University Center for Organizational Development and Leadership. At the same time, this work has also provided a significant and visible opportunity to showcase the discipline of communication and its potential for addressing some of the most fundamental challenges facing higher education today.