Bob Bozzone, former ATI CEO and chairman, remembered for leadership, community involvement

Bob Bozzone already was working at Allegheny Ludlum as a junior metallurgist in the early 1960s when the company’s Bagdad plant in Gilpin was being built.

“I would watch it be constructed,” Bozzone told the Valley News Dispatch in 2010 when the Bagdad plant celebrated its 50th anniversary. “As they began to construct the facility, I would look across the river at the bulldozers leveling the hillside.”

He remained with the company, now known as ATI, for 54 years, rising through the ranks and eventually becoming its CEO and chairman of its board of directors. He officially retired in 2001, but remained chairman until 2004 and a member of the board until 2008.

He guided the company through strikes, modernization and the ebb and flow of steel markets during bull and bear markets.

Robert P. Bozzone, 90, of Lower Burrell, died unexpectedly on Friday, June 7.

During his career, Bozzone helped facilitate mergers and acquisitions that grew the company from a small specialty steel maker to a global company producing materials for aerospace, defense and oil and gas applications, among others.

He was the company’s president and chief operating officer when it became publicly traded in 1987 and, in 1996, helped guide the company’s merger with Allegheny Teledyne, which created the current ATI company.

“Bob Bozzone was a legend at ATI,” says Tom DeLuca, president of ATI’s Specialty Rolled Products business. “Across more than half a century, he helped to lay the groundwork for the aerospace and defense leader ATI is today. Bob encouraged our decades-long pursuit of technical strengths.

“He was instrumental in expanding our alloy systems up the value stream to include nickel and titanium and leading the merger of Allegheny Ludlum with Teledyne. His generosity in our community through both personal leadership and financial support positively impacted the region. Bob was a friend to many and will be missed.”

He even met his wife of 65 years, Irene Guarnero, at work. She worked as a secretary while Bozzone worked at Allegheny Ludlum’s Leechburg plant. The couple had three children and 10 grandchildren.

In addition to being a dedicated businessman Bozzone was also a devout family man. His children recall some of their favorite memories of “time spent with him on vacations to Hidden Valley at [their] mountain house, he called it.” They say he greatly enjoyed time spent with his grandchildren and that, overall, he was a humble, kindhearted man and father.

He also served many companies and organizations as a board member, including Duquesne Light as chairman, Teledyne Technologies, Water Pik Technologies, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and as a trustee for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, N.Y., from which he graduated with a degree in metallurgical engineering.

Bozzone also was well-known for his support of community groups, nonprofits and community causes.

He served on the boards and special committees of the Salvation Army, Boy Scouts, United Way, Pittsburgh Foundation, Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Science Center and Heinz History Center, among others.

Amy Franz, who served as the chief development officer for Laurel Highlands Council-Boys Scouts of America and is currently the regional vice president for United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, spoke highly of Bozzone’s involvement.

“Bob didn’t just show up at meetings. He got involved and was well-informed and asked good questions about how to improve the community. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work,” Franz said. “He led by example and would not ask others to do things he would not do himself.”

He was a longtime advocate and generous supporter of these organizations and many more, including St. Margaret Mary Roman Catholic Church in Lower Burrell, The Pittsburgh Zoo, Phipps Conservatory, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Community Library of Allegheny Valley, St. Joseph High School and the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum.

“While he was in the top tier of Pittsburgh’s corporate leaders, Bob viewed himself as just one among thousands of residents dedicated to improving community life. He wanted the Foundation to be the place that would always encourage a culture of generosity,” Lisa Schroeder, CEO of the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Rusiewicz of Lower Burrell Funeral Home, where visitation will be held from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday.

A Christian funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Margaret Mary Roman Catholic Church, Lower Burrell. Burial will be private.