Dr. Herbert Pardes is president and CEO of New York-Presbyterian, the non-profit behemoth that operates Columbia's and Cornell's hospitals along with over 30 other medical facilities in the area.

The son of a Catskills hotel owner, Pardes was diagnosed with Perthes disease as a kid, which left him in a full-body cast for 10 months. His early experience with the health care system prompted him to go into medicine, and he attended medical school at SUNY Downstate before becoming a practicing psychiatrist. In 1978, President Carter appointed Pardes director of the National Institute of Mental Health and assistant U.S. Surgeon General. In 1984, he left Washington to take over as chairman of the department of psychiatry at Columbia. After rising up to become the dean of Columbia's medical school, he was named CEO of New York-Presbyterian in 1999. Today he presides over 12,000 hospital beds and 80,000 employees in the metropolitan area.

New York-Presbyterian was formed in 1997 following the merger of New York Hospital (Weill Cornell) and Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons). The marriage was a exceptionally messy combination. Fierce turf battles between the two hospitals ensued, and the costs savings that Skinner had promised largely failed to materialize. Pardes quickly set about getting the troubled institution back on track, streamlining operations and cutting costs; he also elected to keep Columbia and Cornell's faculties and departments as separate as possible in an effort to avoid conflict. Since taking over, Pardes has earned high marks for the attention he's paid to improving patient care. He's also been very successful on the fundraising front, earning the nickname "Dr. New York" for his efforts courting wealthy donors. [Image via Getty]