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Robert Skertich, Ph.D.

Professor

Director, Public Administration and Organizational Leadership Programs

Pictured is Robert Skertich. Photo by Randall Coleman.Contact Information

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, Vocational Education, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
  • Master of Public Policy Management, University of Pittsburgh
  • Master of Arts, Curriculum and Instruction, Point Park University
  • Master of Education, Teaching and Leadership, Point Park University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Public Administration and Policy, University of Pittsburgh

Courses Taught

  • Nonprofit Organizations
  • Public Administration
  • Principles of Management
  • Public Budgeting and Finance
  • Operational Methods for Public Management
  • Policy and Decision Analysis
  • Theories of Public Organization
  • Special Employee Relations in Public Agencies
  • Emergency and Disaster Preparedness

Background

Robert Skertick, assistant professor of public administration, with a Haitian boy during medical mission following the Jan. 12 earthquake. | Photo courtesy of Robert Skertich

Professor Robert Skertich, Ph.D., has an extensive background in public and non-profit administration, serving at the municipal, county, and national levels, with a primary focus on public safety and emergency management.

He previously served as a deputy commander with the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (PA1-DMAT) based in Pittsburgh, part of the federal National Disaster Medical System (USDHS / USDHHS). He served as either incident commander or operations section chief for bases of operation in natural disasters and National Special Security Events, including the Haiti Earthquake (Petionville, 2010), Hurricane Sandy (Monmouth County, NJ, 2012), and Hurricane Irma (Key West, FL, 2017). This also afforded him the opportunity to teach other NDMS personnel at the Center for Disaster Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama.

Dr. Skertich also worked for the American Red Cross, Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter as the senior director of emergency services, overseeing Disaster, Armed Forces, International Social Services and contracted mental health programs. Promoted to chief operations officer, he assumed responsibility for health and safety training, and internal services such as accounting, facilities, IT and compliance and worked closely with financial development. His disaster experience has ranged from frequent storms and flash floods in the Pittsburgh area, tornadoes in the midwest, hurricanes in the south and United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. 

Having served through the ranks and "bugles" with several other paid or unpaid fire or EMS agencies since the late 1970s, in 2015 he began his role as training officer for the Elfinwild Fire Company in Shaler Township, Pennsylvania, where he currently serves as a firefighter and rescue technician. His 40+ years have been fondly spent on engine and rescue companies, with several years on an ambulance, and only once or twice to a truck.

The other side of his career has focused on training and education. He was a fire and rescue training administrator for the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) in the '80s, developed and instructed the high school Protective Services Program at the Butler County Area Vo-Tech in the '90s, oversaw the Disaster, International Humanitarian Law, and Health and Safety education and training programs for the Red Cross in Southwestern Pennsylvania through the 2000s, and has been a program lead and professor in the Rowland School of Business at Point Park University since 2008.

He completed his doctoral studies at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as a researcher and consultant for the Center for Disaster Management focusing on interagency cooperation and sociotechnical decision support systems in disasters, public health emergencies and humanitarian crises.

He is a Pennsylvania State Fire Instructor-Emeritus, a certified paramedic, Fire Instructor III and Fire Officer IV and teaches extensively for the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania State Fire Academies. Dr. Skertich is also a contract instructor and has served on various curriculum development projects for the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland.


Professional Certifications and Memberships

  • Pennsylvania State Fire Academy, Adjunct and Local Level Suppression Instructor
  • National Professional Qualification Board Firefighter II, Fire Instructor III and Public Fire and Life Safety Educator II Certifications
  • Pennsylvania Department of Health Paramedic Certification
  • International Fire Service Accreditation Congress Officer IV Certification
  • Member, Occupational Advisory Committee, Emergency Response Technology, Beattie Technical School
  • Member, Fire Service Administration Degree Program Advisory Board, Community College of Allegheny County
  • Member, American Society for Public Administration
  • Member, National Fire Academy Alumni Association
  • Member, Keystone Chapter Fire Service Instructors

Selected Publications and Presentations

  • Presented on "Professional Communications" to West Penn Hospital employees, Nov. 20, 2014.
  • Co-author of article "A Bad Time for Disaster: Economic Stress and Disaster Resilience," published in Administration and Society, July 2012.
  • Taught 16-hour Advanced Incident Command course at the Integrated Medical, Public Health, Preparedness and Response Training Summit in Nashville, Tenn., May 2012.
  • Co-presented on the "History of Pittsburgh's Cold War Air Defense," Northland Public Library and Allegheny County Police and Fire Academy in North Park, Pittsburgh, Pa., March 2012.
  • Co-presented "A Bad Time for Disaster: Economic Stress and Disaster Resilience," Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., Sept. 2010.
  • Presented on the "Haitian Earthquake Response," EMS Update Conference, Emergency Medical Services Institute, Seven Springs, Pa., March 2011.

Research Interest

  • Decision support in disaster management

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Distinguished Member of the Year, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Disaster Medical System, 2010
  • Instructor Emeritus, Pennsylvania State Fire Academy

In the News

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