Hall of Fame 2014 | John Griffith

John Griffith's "The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization," now in its seventh print edition, was originally published in 1987 and has been a go-to textbook for aspiring and advancing executives in the field.

Griffith joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1960 (he's seen here with colleagues in 1970). Students—according to one of them, retired hospital CEO Wayne Lerner —recall Griffith as having a "hard edge," but only because he wanted them to measure up to their potential. "He forced us to think about the events that were unfolding in our lives," Lerner said.

When Griffith was a young associate professor, one of his students was Gail Warden (left), who would go on to become president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System. Warden, who was inducted into the Health Care Hall of Fame in 2007, later taught in Griffith's program and worked with him to mentor young executives. "He makes you see things through different eyes," Warden told the magazine of the university's school of public health in 2003.