June 28, 2023
Dear Members of the Manhattan College Community,
On behalf of the Manhattan College Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Milo Riverso ’81, Ph.D., P.E., as the 21st president of Manhattan College. Dr. Riverso will begin his term on July 1, 2023.
Manhattan College conducted a nearly four-month presidential search that attracted a diverse slate of candidates with a variety of backgrounds from across the country. The 10-person search committee was made up of trustees, faculty and administrators who engaged with the College community via listening sessions and conducted a rigorous selection and interviewing process before selecting Dr. Riverso.
Dr. Riverso is a highly strategic and transformational leader who values input, seeks opportunities and embraces challenges. A true visionary and innovator, he will advance Manhattan College and its commitment to excellence in education. His passion for Manhattan is evidenced in decades of support to the institution and genuine understanding of the College’s core values and Lasallian mission.
He 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.
Dr. Riverso’s professional and leadership accomplishments include 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.
Prior to his tenure at STV Group, Dr. Riverso was senior vice president at AMEC, a construction management firm. Before that, he served as vice president of project management and operations, then president and CEO, at the New York City School Construction Authority. 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.
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 currently 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, over the years Dr. Riverso has devoted critical, multifaceted and seemingly boundless support to Manhattan College, from which his father and several siblings also graduated. 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 more than 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, serving as chair of the Construction Golf Outing and 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.
Dr. Riverso and his wife Michele live in Scarsdale, New York. They are the parents of four grown children: Michael, Anthony, Nadia and Peter.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the presidential search committee for its ongoing support and dedication. But, most importantly, thank you to all members of the Manhattan College community. Your participation and input, whether through the survey or a listening session, were invaluable and provided the necessary insights to guide this important process.
I am sure you join me in extending a special thank you to Brother Daniel Gardner for his service this past year. Brother Dan’s steadfast commitment, his true Lasallian spirit and genuine love for the College was felt throughout the community, and we are most grateful.
Learn more about our new president in his message to the Manhattan community.
Today, please join me in welcoming Dr. Milo Riverso to Manhattan College.
Sincerely,
Stephen J. Squeri ’81, ’86 (MBA)
Chairperson, Board of Trustees
Chairperson, Presidential Search Committee