Career Heroes
University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health

University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health Magazine, Fall/ Winter 2015

Eric F. Rieseberg, a Manhasset High School and Ithaca College graduate in Hospital Administration, completed his Master of Public Health, in 1974 (HPM ’74) began a career in hospital administration. Eight years later, at age 26, he became the youngest community hospital CEO in the country. How?

Rieseberg sums it up in one word: “heroes.” His book, Heroes Alongside Us (Salt Island Publishing, 2014), is both a tribute to the men who were keys to his success and a case for the crucial role of heroes in our everyday lives. He emphasizes that there is hope for anyone willing to work with and seek out guidance from the “best of the best.”

Rieseberg shares how heroic acts by others can make achieving success possible against all odds, using his own story as an example. While Rieseberg was in high school, his military dad was rarely present and his mom suffered from mental illness and alcoholism. The odds were also stacked against him academically. “I was certainly not a high achiever. I’d had a poor foundation from moving all over the world as a child of a Navy captain: By the time I reached high school, I’d attended seven different schools. My parents never saw an A on my report card. I simply wasn’t an academic kid.” By the age of 32, Rieseberg had served as CEO of three large hospitals in the United States. By 34, he was managing 20 hospitals.

How does a chubby, never got-picked-for-any-team, sub-par student from a dysfunctional family end up achieving more success than anyone expected? He attributes these accomplishments to the help of individuals who are well known in the national health care and business communities. “I couldn’t have done it without my heroes,” he says.