Our People

Robert A. Gleason, Jr. Chairman and CEO

Robert A. Gleason, Jr. Chairman and CEO joined his family's business in 1965, after four years of active duty as a Captain in the United States Air Force. The grandson of Agency founder, Gus M. Gleason, Rob has held virtually every position in the Agency. Upon the retirement of his father, Robert A. Gleason, Sr. in 1970, Rob served as the Agency's President until 1994, at which time he was named Chairman and CEO. Under his skilled leadership, the Agency increased revenues to $10 million in 2003. Today, Gleason is among the 150 largest property and casualty insurance brokers in the United States.

In 1985, Rob took a sabbatical to serve as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Appointed to a two-year term by former Pennsylvania Governor and United States Attorney General, Dick Thornburgh, Rob resigned from his position at Gleason and moved to Harrisburg to assume the new role. Rob's appointment and his unanimous approval by the Senate were due to what Thornburgh referred to as his "excellence and commitment to good, clean, hard-hitting politics, solid government and devotion to the community."

He returned to Gleason in 1987 but he still remains active in politics on the state and county levels. In 1996, he succeeded his father as Chairman of the Cambria County Republican Committee. He was re-elected unanimously in 1998 and 2002. He serves as a member of the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania. In 2004 US Senator Rick Santorum appointed him Pennsylvania Chairman of Catholics for George W. Bush.

In May 1993, the late Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey nominated him to be a member of the five person Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The Pennsylvania State Senate unanimously confirmed him. He served on the Commission until September 1997, during which time he helped determine policy on construction, operation, and maintenance issues, as well as addressing finance and contract issues.

In September 1997, Pennsylvania Governor Thomas J. Ridge appointed Rob to the State Transportation Commission. The Commission gathers and studies information relating to the needs of highways and all types of mass transportation to determine the need and the
recommended order of priority for their construction or reconstruction.

A 1961 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Rob remains very active in the University. In 1998, he was appointed a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2000, Rob served as Chairman of The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, an organization that represents the 300 largest insurance brokers in the United States. The Council places 80% - more than $90 billion - of the commercial property/casualty insurance premiums in the United States. They also provide industry leadership, visible and effective representation before government, executive training and agency management programs. Rob is well known throughout the country in his field and is considered one of the leading brokers in the insurance industry.

Rob, a Roman Catholic, has been a member of the Church of Our Mother of Sorrows his entire life. In 1996, he led a campaign, which raised $1,250,000 in six weeks to refurbish the church. He presently serves as Chairman of the Finance Council and is a member of the Parish Council.

In 1978, he was named a trustee of St. Francis University in Loretto, PA. He served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1992, leaving the board in 1988.

In 1990, Bishop Joseph Adamec named Rob as a founding member of the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Currently a trustee, the Foundation's assets have grown to over $9 million.

Rob has been active in healthcare since 1976. He has served as a trustee of Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown for 28 years. In June 2002, he was elected to a three-year term as Chairman of the Board of this $500 million hospital that has 2,400 employees. Rob is has also been acting co-CEO of the Health System since November 2004. He is also a trustee and Secretary of the Conemaugh Health System Board, a 4-hospital health system located in west central Pennsylvania.

Rob was instrumental in merging Good Samaritan Hospital into Memorial Medical Center (MMC) in 1995. Rob also served as Chartiman of the Board of MMC from 2002 until 2005 and led the merger of Memorial Medical Center and UPMC Lee Regional Hospitals. He also served as a trustee of Bon Secours Holy Family Hospital in 1999 and 2000.