Alan B. Miller

Alan Miller was born in 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. His father owned a dry cleaning store, and his mother, who had worked in the millinery district since childhood, commuted to Manhattan and worked to supplement the family's income. An only child, Miller lived with his parents in a small apartment behind his father's store. A few years later, they moved to a walk-up apartment. "My parents were wonderful," he says. "They worked hard, set good examples, but always struggled financially. My father was dependable, trusting, and honest, but he was not a success as a small businessman. After a few different stores failed, he went to work in a factory that made paper boxes."

But Miller never felt deprived in any way as a result of the financial circumstances of his family. "Everyone in my working-class neighborhood struggled to make ends meet, but we had all we needed," he says. "My mother's three sisters lived nearby with my grandfather, who was a devout Jew, who was a reverend and a cantor on the holidays. We spent a lot of time together, and I had a strong religious upbringing. I played stickball in the street with my friends, enjoyed football and basketball in the playground, and participated in Boy Scouts. I didn't have much in the way of material things, but I had a happy childhood, many kids in the neighborhood to play with and always a game to join."

At the age of 12 or 13, Miller began working as a stock boy for the neighborhood grocery store; on weekends, he delivered telegrams by bicycle for Western Union. He held both of those jobs throughout high school.

Besides being a good student, Miller was also athletic. Having skipped two grades in middle school, he was younger than his classmates, yet had no problem competing on the varsity basketball team. When he was a senior, his team was undefeated and won the championship of New York City. Miller graduated from high school in 1954 at the age of 16. He received several offers of basketball scholarships, and he was eager to leave New York. "I wanted to go out of town," he says. "I'd never been west of the Hudson River, and I was eager to be in a completely different environment with a campus instead of the city streets." Miller accepted a full scholarship to play basketball at the University of Utah without visiting the school. "It was a nice school and my coach took good care of me, but it wasn't long before I realized this was not a good choice for me," he says. "It was too far to go home for holidays, I was not a Mormon, and so it just was not a good fit for me overall."

Miller decided to transfer to College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, under the recommendation of a friend. Armed with another basketball scholarship, Miller arrived as a sophomore at William & Mary in 1955.

Because there was no business school, Miller majored in economics, but he was unsure what he would do for a career. "I grew up with kids who said they wanted to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a musician," he says, "but I had no idea what I wanted to do. I hadn't been broadly exposed to professionals or any business people in my childhood. I really was unaware of what was out there. But I figured a business-oriented degree would provide options to me." During Miller's second year at William & Mary, on his way to a basketball game against the University of Pennsylvania, the car in which he was riding was involved in a head-on collision; the crash fractured his skull, crushed his nose, and broke his jaw. Miller, who nearly died from his injuries, spent a month in a hospital in Washington, D.C., and subsequently underwent six surgeries to reconstruct his face. Slowly, he recovered, but his college basketball career was over. "That was a huge disappointment for me, but there was nothing I could do about it," he says. "I focused on graduating and decided I would go to graduate school instead of law school, where I had been headed."

Miller was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. After reading a book about advertising, he majored in marketing and in 1960 earned his master's degree. He also joined the ROTC in college, later serving in the U.S. Army as an officer and then in the Army Reserve for the next several years. "I enjoyed my time in the Army," he says. "Not only is it an honor to serve your country, but also you learn skills in management, organization, and leadership."

In 1961, Miller's father died, and Miller needed to find a job as soon as possible to help his mother with finances. He joined Young & Rubicam, one of the world's largest advertising agencies, and quickly became a rising star. He was one of the agency's youngest vice presidents, and he developed one of the first nationally syndicated television programs, a show called The Galloping Gourmet with Graham Kerr.

In 1969, Miller and his former Wharton roommate established American Medicorp, which built, owned, and operated private hospitals. Four years later, his roommate, who had been CEO, resigned as the company's fortunes waned, and Miller took over as CEO. He restored the company to profitability but was shaken when he lost it in a hostile takeover four years later. "That was a terrible time for me," he says. "Although we exacted twice the price originally offered, there was nothing I could to do to stop the final sale. I thought about returning to advertising, but I decided to build a new hospital company. Six people from the old company came with me into the new venture. I rented an office, and we just started calling people in our industry. Our business plan projected we would be at $50 million in five years, but furiously acquiring facilities, we were at $50 million at the end of the first year. It's been an amazing ride since then."

Miller founded his company, Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS), in 1978 and built it to Fortune 500 status. UHS became one of the nation's largest and most successful healthcare corporations. Miller also founded Universal Health Realty Income Trust, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

"This is the greatest country in the world, affording opportunities to anyone who is willing to work hard," Miller says when asked about his success. "Other qualities one needs to lead a successful venture are integrity and reliability. It takes a lifetime of doing the right thing to build a good reputation, but it can vanish quickly, so it needs to be guarded carefully."

An avid believer in the American dream, Miller says that where one comes from makes little difference. "To me, it means that what you contemplate or imagine you can make happen. It doesn't matter where you come from or your background. In America, what's important is your talent and what you've accomplished, it's the measure of the person and the organization that counts."

Miller says one must confront hard times with courage and confidence. "Everyone faces challenging times," he says. "The accident I had that ended my college basketball career was a difficult time for me. Also a trying time was after discharge from my Army service. My father died, and I needed to support my mother and me, but the job market was not good, and I had a hard time finding a position. The loss of my company due to a hostile takeover was a major disappointment and a difficult period. But if you believe in yourself and you believe there are always opportunities to be found in this country, with a little luck there isn't much that can stop you."

Honored to be inducted into the Horatio Alger Association, Miller says, "The work the Association is doing with our nation's most deserving young people is absolutely essential. It shows them that they don't have to start with a wealthy parent or family connections to have a successful career. In many ways, their journey will be more gratifying because they will have done it on their own merits, and they will gain a great satisfaction from what's been accomplished."

Few industries in the United States are more difficult or competitive than healthcare. Yet UHS, under Miller's guidance, has consistently ranked among the industry's top performers. A leader in the for-profit hospital industry, UHS expects to continue its focus on consistent growth and expansion. In 2003, Fortune magazine named it the nation's top healthcare provider; it's also been included in the Forbes Platinum 400 list of best large companies in America for profitability and growth.

In 1999, Miller received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Federation of American Health Systems; he also received the FAHS Leadership Award in 1978. Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch named him Master Entrepreneur of the Year in 1991, and in 1995 and 1996, Financial World magazine listed him among 100 Outstanding CEOs. He has also made Modern Healthcare magazine's "100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare" list every year from 2003 to 2015.

Throughout his career, Miller has been an ardent supporter of education. He has served on the executive board of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and as a member of the school's Board of Overseers. He has also served as a trustee of the College of William & Mary Endowment Fund and is a life member of the college's President's Council. In 2007, the school established its Alan B. Miller Center for Entrepreneurship in recognition of Miller's extensive support of his alma mater and his success as an entrepreneur. The center, as well as the college's Mason School of

Business, is housed in the ultramodern Alan B. Miller Hall, which opened in October 2009. In 1999, he received the William & Mary Medallion, the highest award presented to alumni. In 2007, the college awarded him the T.C. and Elizabeth Clarke Business Medallion, its highest honor for business achievement.

Miller is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of South Carolina, the President's Medal of George Washington University, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in recognition of his "exceptional humanitarian efforts and outstanding contributions to the country." He has also won the Anti-Defamation League's Americanism Award as well as the United Negro College Fund's Chairman Award in recognition of his fundraising activities for that organization.