While earning his master’s degree in facilities management in the College of Human Ecology, Zig Wu MS ’11 thought of starting a career in facilities planning for hotels and spas.

Professor Frank Becker, however, turned him toward health care, “to use my skills to benefit people,” says Zig. He now integrates hospitality elements into health care facilities as a space planning manager contracting with Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, CA.

Born in Singapore, Zig went to Oxford as an undergraduate, but “at Cornell,” he says, “I felt like I belonged.” Right after earning his master’s, he decided to stay in the US when he was offered a job at a hospital in Southern California by a grad school colleague.

As a member of the Human Ecology Young Alumni Council, Zig helps strengthen alumni connections in California. “I think there’s something special about people who went to Cornell,” he says.