Robert E. Pezzoli said he learned how to stay focused in his studies at Saint Vincent College.  That focus is a key component in understanding the health care field.

“Health care is a business of constant change and complexity,” said Mr. Pezzoli. “History was good for learning to assimilate lots of information. In health care, you’re looking at retrospective analysis of quality issues, market share analysis – all the things that drive the health care business – and my history degree was very important in learning this.

Mr. Pezzoli went on to receive a master’s in health care administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He then served as the assistant administrator at Falk Clinic at the University Health Center in Pittsburgh before moving on to Citizens General Hospital, New Kensington, as its assistant administrator.

In 1980, Mr. Pezzoli moved to Dayton, Ohio where he was the administrator of the Frederick White Ambulatory Care Center at Wright State University. Two years later, he went on to the Wishard Memorial Hospital, managed by Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was associate executive director.

Sister Mary Louise Lyons, president of St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, appointed Mr. Pezzoli executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1987, and in 1991 he became President and Chief Executive Officer. He continued his career with the Daughters of Charity National Health System and its successor Ascension Health as Senior Vice President until four years ago when he joined the Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the System’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Pezzoli’s career success comes in part, from his four years at Saint Vincent.

“We had a lot of good teachers who challenged our mental acumen; challenged us to be more intent on how we looked at things,” said Mr. Pezzoli. “My history degree helped me do better at what I do and better understand the dynamics of what makes a situation click and tick.”

He and his wife, Sandra, split their time between Philadelphia and Stevensville, Maryland. They have two daughters and two grandchildren. Mr. Pezzoli holds board memberships in the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation and the Voluntary Hospitals of America, East Coast.