Michael Dowling is president and CEO of Northwell Health and was our 2015 Healthcare and Life Sciences 50 keynote speaker. He began his career as a faculty member at Fordham University as a professor and the assistant dean at the Graduate School of Social Services. In 1983, under Governor Mario Cuomo, he served as deputy secretary and director of Health, Education, and Human Services. He became executive vice president and COO of Northwell in 1997, and was named president and CEO in 2002.

Born and raised in Knockaderry, County Limerick, Michael had to help support his family from an early age, inspiring him to push further and achieve his dreams. “No” was never an option, he says. “If you tell me I can’t do something, that’s when I become determined to get it done.” A University College Cork graduate, he was the first person in his family to attend college. Afterwards, he went to New York and earned a master’s from Fordham. Michael and his wife, Kathy, live on Long Island with their two children, Brian and Elizabeth. This year, he had the honor of serving as the grand marshal of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade.