27
COM Outlook . Winter 2015
FACULTY IN FOCUS
Dr. Jay Fleisher Transforms
from Struggling Student to
Renowned Researcher
By Scott Colton, B.A., APR
COM/HPD Director of Medical Communications and Public Relations
s a child growing up in a work-
ing-class family in Brooklyn,
New York, Jay Fleisher,
Ph.D., M.S., M.S., associate professor
of public health, never envisioned a
future that would include earning
several graduate degrees and becom-
ing a top researcher in his field.
Throughout his formative years,
Dr. Fleisher seemed set to follow
the prevailing mindset of his family,
where the importance of obtaining
primarily blue-collar positions that
ensured job security was emphasized
over education. During those early
years, his familial role models were
his father, who worked as a cook at
New York University (NYU) Medical
Center, his mother, who worked as
a secretary, and his brother, who is a
retired foreman from the New York
City Sanitation Department.
Consequently, Dr. Fleisher had
little interest in pursuing a career in
academics, which is not surprising
when you realize he barely scraped
through high school with a less-
than-lofty average grade of 65. After
graduating and landing a job deliver-
ing supplies at NYU Medical Center,
however, he quickly recognized that
a blue-collar career was not where
his destiny lay, and that obtaining a
college degree would be his ticket to
enhanced career opportunities.
Not surprisingly, based on the
marginal grades he received in high
school, Dr. Fleisher understood that
getting accepted into college would
prove to be a difficult proposition.
“The only college that would take
me was NYC Community College,
where it took me three years to
complete a two-year degree in con-
struction technology,” explained Dr.
Fleisher of his academic difficulties.
After earning his two-year degree,
Dr. Fleisher entered the U.S. Coast
A
