I didn’t know Dr. Bruce Ribner ’66 (cover story, March 4) when we were at Princeton, nor did I know that Bruce was a fellow Princetonian on the occasions we worked together when I was an intern and he a resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

When the first cases of Ebola arrived in the United States, Bruce’s team at Emory performed heroically in the nation’s service. Bruce imparted a level-headed, rational, scientific approach at a time when hysteria on the part of political figures, the press, and public was running rampant. Unfortunately, government officials in the absence of a surgeon general and any pretense of a unified voice issued disjointed and contradictory communications. The CDC also was less than completely prepared and drafted inadequate and confusing treatment and prevention recommendations.

Providing calm, confident leadership and a “we can do this” attitude under those circumstances goes a long way.

My congratulations to Bruce and his team. Having been involved in hospital administration for part of my career, I can only imagine the institutional battles he faced over the years to achieve the support and funding to be ready for “the call.”