Dr. Francis E. Rosato

Dr. Rosato earned his bachelor’s degree at St. Joseph’s University in 1955 and his medical degree at Hahnemann Medical College in 1959. He completed his internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and his residency in General Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he served as Chief Resident from 1964 to 1965. Dr. Rosato was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania from 1962 to 1963. During his distinguished career in surgery, he rose rapidly through the academic ranks from Assistant Instructor in Surgery in 1960 to Professor of Surgery at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1972.

During this period he was chief of the hospital’s solid tumor program and Co-Director of the Neoplastic Chemotherapy Clinic. He established the Department of Surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School, and in 1975 he was appointed Professor and Chair of the department. In 1978, Dr. Rosato was appointed The Samuel D. Gross Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Spanning a career of 40 years, Dr. Rosato’s numerous hospital appointments included surgical positions at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia General Hospital, Veterans Administration Hospital, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Norfolk General Hospital, and DePaul Hospital. Dr. Rosato was co-author of Post Mastectomy Breast Reconstruction and Atlas of General Surgical Technique and co-editor of Surgery of the Breast. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Surgery for Residents.

Dr. Rosato has received numerous awards for his contributions to surgery, including the Pittsburgh Surgical Society Annual Award, and was twice recognized with the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching. He has served locally as the President of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery and the Philadelphia County Medical Society. Nationally he has been a Governor of the American College of Surgeons and Chair of its Committee on Continuing Education, and Chair of the Test Committee of the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Dr. Rosato passed away in 2006. He and his wife, Gertrude, had five children: Ann V. Rosato, MD, Gertrude M. Rosato, Francis E. Rosato, Jr., MD, Aimee M. Rosato, and Ernest L. Rosato, MD, who passed away in 2021.