Peter Arduini ’86 learned a lot about business and leadership at Susquehanna—both in his business classes with such professors as Larry Isaacs and as a discus thrower and shot putter with former longtime track and field coach Jim Taylor.
Today, Arduini puts those lessons to work as the president, CEO and director of Integra LifeScience, a $2.5 billion worldwide leader in regenerative tissue and medical technology products based in Plainsboro, N.J.
“I learned that you have to have a compelling vision of where you want to go, so that people understand why the pain, why the hard work, and what the destination is going to look like,” Arduini says. “You also have to be able to elicit trust, teach, and be sincere and genuine-all traits exemplified by Coach Taylor.”
After graduating from Susquehanna, Arduini earned a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Prior to joining Integra in 2010, the father of three worked in sales and marketing for Procter & Gamble, spent 15 years managing General Electric Healthcare’s domestic and global imaging businesses, and headed Baxter Healthcare’s $4.8 billion global medication delivery division.
A contact he made while serving on the board of directors of the Advanced Medical Technology Association led to his recruitment by Integra,
which was founded in 1989 by Richard Caruso ’65, Ernst & Young’s U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year for 2006.
“It is quite rare for the founder and first CEO and the third CEO of a company like Integra to have both graduated from a school like Susquehanna,” says Arduini, who previously had not met Caruso.
For Arduini, one of Integra’s attractions is that, “You can do well by doing good.” He repeatedly tells his employees: “Even on your worst day at work, when things aren’t going well, remember that today you might personally save 10 or 15 people.
“We help surgeons remove brain tumors, or repair shoulders, burnt skin or damaged nerves,” he adds. “Pretty much everything we do
is life-saving or life-sustaining. It’s a privilege to make products that have such a positive impact on the lives of millions of patients around the world.”