Jan. 282023Betsy Ryan & Patrick Zenner
Patrick has over 50 years of experience in the pharmaceutical/life sciences industry. For 32 years of his career, he was with Hoffman-La Roche, a global pharmaceutical and diagnostics company based in Basel, Switzerland. He retired from Hoffman-La Roche in 2001 as the CEO of North America and a member of the global pharmaceutical executive committee.
Long active in the industry and academic and civic affairs, Patrick is a past chairman of the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey and the Myositis Association. He also served on the board of directors and executive committees of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. For over 25 years, Patrick served on the boards of trustees of both Creighton University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, both of his alma maters.
He recently retired after 10 years as chairman of the board from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Since retiring from Roche, Patrick has been elected to several public and private company board of directors in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He became chairman of the board of a number of these companies and served as interim CEO for two of them. His priority however was caring for his wife who suffered from a debilitating disease, inclusion body myositis, which she battled for many years.
In 2017 a community of friends introduced Patrick to Betsy Ryan. They have been enjoying life together ever since and have traveled the world, including enjoying many NWWF auction lot trips. Betsy introduced Patrick to the NCEF and the Festival. Together they have become so impressed with NCEF they have become Trustees.
All three of Patrick’s children, and two grandchildren, reside in Colorado, where he has purchased a home in the mountains as a family retreat in Grand Lake.
Elizabeth Bingham (Betsy) Ryan was born and raised on a small lake in northern New Jersey, near New York City, and grew up enjoying the best of both worlds: nature and culture. She attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in English and a teaching certificate. For eight years, Betsy lived simply with seven friends on a small farm in western Massachusetts raising their food, making their own clothes and furniture, learning various other crafts and starting their families.
Betsy moved to Radnor, PA in 1981 where she raised her three children, facilitating their varied athletics, musical and academic activities. Betsy earned her master’s in theater at Villanova University and taught theater to middle schoolers for several years. She worked with the League of Women Voters making short TV presentations on local politics, taught Sunday School, Girl Scout Brownies and ran Arts Week for the middle school for two years. She was also a patron of the arts in Pennsylvania, particularly Peoples Light theater, the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Please Touch Museum.
In 2004, Betsy discovered Florida and in 2008, they moved to Naples and also to London, where they were patrons of the British Museum, Royal Ballet, National Theatre, British Film Institute and the Almeida Theatre.
Still maintaining a flat in London, Betsy has been residing in Florida for five years and has been supporting the arts here as well. As an active attendee of the Naples Winter Wine Festival for five years, Betsy had the great pleasure of winning several awesome travel experiences at the live auction. She and Patrick look forward to becoming more involved with the wonderful work being undertaken for the children of Collier County. Betsy is also an avid knitter, and has the good fortune to have six beautiful grandchildren who enjoy Nana‘s creations.
