Francis E. Rosato Sr., MD
1934 - 2006

Dr. Francis E. Rosato was the 6th Samuel D. Gross Professor of Surgery and former chair of the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  He received his B.A. at St. Joseph's University in 1955, his M.D. at Hahnemann Medical College in 1959, and his surgical training at HUP, where he remained on the faculty and rose to the rank of Professor of Surgery.  He subsequently established the Department of Surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School and served as its chair from 1975-1978.

In 1978, Dr. Rosato began his 22-year tenure as the Samuel D. Gross Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery.  Under his chairmanship, Jefferson performed the region's first liver transplants and became known as a center of surgical excellence.  Dr. Rosato authored several text books, over 200 papers in the surgical literature, and was instrumental in establishing intraoperative radiation therapy as a standard for cancer treatment.  He stepped down as chairman in 2000, but continued to be clinically active through 2004. 

Dr. Rosato was a member of many prestigious surgical organizations, including the American College of Surgeons, the Halsted Society, the American Surgical Association, the Southern Surgical Association and the Society of University Surgeons.  He received numerous awards for his contributions to surgery.  He was twice recognized with the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching—in 1968 at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1983 at Jefferson.  In 2005, he received the Achievement Award in Medicine from Thomas Jefferson University. 

Dr. Rosato was responsible for mentoring, educating and training more than 300 residents for careers in general surgery and its sub-specialties. He was considered a master surgeon and teacher, and loved to guide young trainees through the simplest or most complex operative procedures. He was admired and revered by his residents and colleagues, and was instrumental in making the Jefferson surgical residency one of the most sought after in the region.  His trainees, who went on to academic careers or community practice, often sought his counsel. His legacy is of the same magnitude as that of the Jefferson surgical giants who preceded him.  He will be sorely missed, but will always be remembered, not only as an outstanding surgeon and mentor, but especially as a colleague and friend.

More about Dr. Rosato's Legacy...

A Legacy of Leadership: Dr. Francis Rosato Sr.
(reprinted from Surgical Solutions Volume 1, Number 1)

Francis E. Rosato Sr., MD, has had a long and distinguished career at Jefferson. He was the Samuel D. Gross Professor and Chair of Surgery from 1978 through 2000. His career also included 4 years as the first Chair of Surgery at the then new Eastern Virginia Medical School and 14 years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he attained the rank of professor. At each location Dr. Rosato found his patient practice was always the most important part of his work.

Although Dr. Rosato stepped down as Chair in 2000, he continues to come in twice a week to the office at 11th and Walnut. He is surrounded by familiar faces there, having created quite a legacy within the Department. His son Ernest (Gary) L. Rosato, MD, is currently Jefferson’s Director of the Division of General Surgery and his namesake, Francis E. Rosato Jr., MD,  joined the faculty in August. His daughter Anne Rosato, MD, is a pediatrician in King of Prussia, PA. “I taught them how to ski, to play tennis, and how to hit a baseball,” says Dr. Rosato, “so I wasn’t surprised that they followed me into medicine as well.”

A passion for medicine apparently runs both up and down the Rosato family tree. Dr. Rosato’s father was a general practitioner who ran his practice out of the family home. Dr. Rosato recalls seeing patients on a day-to-day basis as a child. “I appreciated how happy and fulfilled my father seemed to be,” he says.

Dr. Rosato has had the benefit of the long view of the institution over several decades. “When I came in 1978, Jefferson was a number of loosely integrated departments that functioned fairly independently. By the time I stepped down, the administration played a greater role and budgets were much higher, although funds were harder to come by,” he recalls.

Dr. Rosato’s legacy lives on through the Francis E. Rosato Sr., MD, Surgical Research and Education Fund, supported primarily through gifts from grateful patients and Jefferson alumni, including the Jefferson Surgical community. The fund allows residents to present their research at national conferences and pays for essential materials such as journal subscriptions and loupes (high-precision magnifying lenses used during surgery). Contributions to the fund are ongoing.