Bob Zollars

Chairman, Vocera Communications; Co-Chair, Trustees of Arizona State University

Robert (Bob) Zollars has been making a positive impact on business around the world for more than 30 years, leading 11 companies as president or chief executive officer (CEO) in the area of distribution, medical products, pharmaceutical services, and healthcare communication. During his career, Bob Zollars has taken two companies public as CEO, including Vocera Communications, Inc. (VCRA). Bob served as chairman and CEO of Vocera from June 2007 to May 2013 and executed the top healthcare IPO of 2012, raising $108M. Since 2013, Bob has served as chairman of the board for Vocera.

Prior to joining Vocera, Bob Zollars served as CEO of Wound Care Solutions, Inc. and worked with three private equity owners to complete and integrate five acquisitions. This business ultimately became part of Healogics. From June 1999 to March 2006, Bob served as CEO and chairman of the board of Neoforma, Inc., where he steered the company from pre-revenue to more than $80M in revenue. He also led a successful IPO in January of 2000, recruited and retained a top-notch executive team, and sold the company in 2006 to Global Healthcare Exchange. Before his tenure at Neoforma, Bob served as executive vice president and group president at Cardinal Health, Inc., and as a Section 16 Officer he was responsible for five of the wholly-owned company’s subsidiaries companies, including Pyxis Corp., Owen Health Care, Medicine Shoppe Int'l, Cardinal Information Technologies, and Cardinal International.

For more than 12 years, Bob Zollars worked for Baxter International, Inc., leading several different divisions within the company. Bob’s first division president role at Baxter was leading the Dietary Products Division, a nutritional/food service business, where he designed, negotiated and implemented a joint-venture with Kraft Foods. From 1979 to 1985, Bob served as area vice president and in various other capacities at American Hospital Supply Corporation, a medical supply company, which was acquired by Baxter International in 1985.

In addition to his roles as CEO of successful, high-profile companies, Bob Zollars has served on many board of directors. Since May 2004, Bob Zollars has served on the board of directors of VWR International, LLC, serving on the compensation committee and chair of the nominating and governance committee. He also helped transition the company from a private entity to a publicly traded company in 2014. Since December 2013, Bob has been on the board of directors of Five9, serving as chairman of the compensation committee and as a member of the nominating and governance committee. From 2005-2016, he was a board member for Diamond Foods and became chairman of the company in 2013. In 2015, he joined the board of directors for Leiter’s Compounding as well as Kate Farms.

Bob Zollars graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree from Arizona State University. Bob has a long history with ASU, beginning with the marketing degree he earned in 1979. He has since taught classes, served on the W. P. Carey School of Business Marketing Advisory Board, and chaired the School's Center for Services Leadership. Bob was also inducted into the W. P. Carey Hall of Fame. In 2015, he was named one of the new co-chairs of Trustees of ASU. Bob earned a master of business administration degree in finance from John F. Kennedy University and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors.