Currently a consultant to the architecture, engineering and construction industry and a board member of the Railroad Construction Corporation, Dr. Riverso received his Ph.D. in civil engineering from Purdue University in 1984 and a master of science in civil engineering, also from Purdue, in 1982. He earned a bachelor of engineering from Manhattan College in 1981, and is licensed as a professional engineer in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
“I feel humbled and honored to be named the 21st president of Manhattan College,” Dr. Riverso says. “I have always been proud of my academic technical training at Manhattan, of its reinforcement of the values I was raised with, of its preparation for the success I experienced in graduate studies and industry leadership, and for the relationships I have maintained over the many years after graduating. I look forward with tremendous enthusiasm and excitement to leading the institution through some fast-moving challenges that will require us to create new ways to deliver a 170-year-old tradition of academic excellence with Lasallian values.”
Dr. Riverso’s professional and leadership accomplishments are legion. He spent 15 years – including nine years as president and CEO – in leadership roles at STV Group Inc., one of the nation’s largest planning, design and construction management firms. From 2005 to 2020, he guided the firm through an unprecedented period of growth and profitability by astute management of its corporate, technical, financial and administrative activities. He attracted new clients, fostered talent, and instituted leadership training and mentoring programs, thus establishing STV as an industry leader. Some notable projects for which he was principal in charge include the Freedom Tower, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum complex, and the redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport.
Prior to his tenure at STV Group, Dr. Riverso spent three years as senior vice president at AMEC, a construction management firm. Before that, he served as vice president of project management and operations at the New York City School Construction Authority, assuming the role of president and CEO from 1997 to 2001. There, he oversaw a staff of 900 employees responsible for the site selection, real estate procurement, planning, design and construction of the capital improvements and new construction of New York City’s public schools, with an annual operating budget of $120 million.
Throughout his career, Dr. Riverso has lent his vast expertise to numerous professional organizations in the engineering and construction industries, as well as academia. He is the chair of the National Academy of Construction, a past trustee of the MOLES, and chair emeritus and fellow of the Construction Management Association of America. From 1998 to 2016, he served on the board of directors of the ACE Mentor Program of Greater New York, including eight years as board chair. He was named chair emeritus in 2016. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space at Columbia University and has served on the master’s construction program curriculum review committee at NYU.
In addition to his numerous leadership and professional commitments, for decades Dr. Riverso has devoted critical, multifaceted and seemingly boundless support to Manhattan College.
“I am a proud legacy member of Manhattan College,” says Dr. Riverso. “My father and many of my siblings attended, and soon my son will be a Jasper. I have always been proud to be associated with Manhattan College’s trustees, Brothers, professors, alumni and staff.”
Starting in 1989, he taught graduate students as an adjunct professor in Manhattan’s civil engineering master’s degree program for several years. He has served on the Engineering Curriculum Review Committee for 25 years and on the Facilities and Development Committees since 1999. For over a decade he was a member and also served as president of the Jasper Mentor Program.
Dr. Riverso has lent his formidable energies to fundraising for the College as well. For 15 years running, he served as chair of the Construction Golf Outing, and he has also chaired the Sporting Clays Outing multiple times. In 2014, in recognition of his corporate leadership and selfless service to Manhattan, he was awarded the De La Salle Medal. He has been an indispensable member of the Board of Trustees since 2015.
In recognition of his many contributions to industry and communities, Dr. Riverso has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions. In 2022 he received the Women Builders Council Champion Award. He was named 2012 Man of the Year by the New York Landmarks Conservancy and, in 2010, received the New York Building Congress George A. Fox Public Service Award. In 2003, Catholic Charities named him Man of the Year.
Dr. Riverso and his wife Michele live in Scarsdale, New York. They are the parents of four grown children: Michael, Anthony, Nadia and Peter.