Petillo Stays Put

NJBIZ STAFF//August 9, 2005//

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After a seven-month search, the board of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey named John Petillo as president. Petillo, a former priest who has been chancellor of Seton Hall University and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, was chosen after the main contender, Allen Spiegel, withdrew his application in early November. Spiegel, a well-known endocrinologist, said he”d prefer to stay at his job as director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Petillo, 57, is the first nonphysician to run the institution. As interim president since June, he initiated construction of the university’s first housing, a 14-story, $88.6 million dorm on the Newark campus, and implemented a $1 million advertising campaign. From 2001 to 2004, Petillo headed the Newark Alliance, a nonprofit committed to improving educational opportunities in Newark. The university operates eight schools with 5,000 students on five campuses. Petillo will be paid $575,000 annually.