Finding Balance through Innovation

William Petty, M.D., is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Exactech, Inc., and Professor (ret.), University of Florida. He received his MD and MS from the University of Arkansas Health Sciences Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. He interned at Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida, and was a Flight Surgeon in the United States Air Force. He completed his Orthopaedic Surgery Residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1974. He was a faculty member at the University of Florida College of Medicine from 1975 to 1998, and was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics from 1981 to 1996, where he was renowned as a teacher of young orthopaedic surgeons. His current clinical practice, specializing in joint arthroplasty, is in association with The Orthopaedic Institute, Gainesville, Florida.

Dr. Petty's research over three decades has been devoted to prevention of complications following joint replacement surgery and the development of improved surgical techniques and prostheses to promote better outcomes for patients requiring these reconstructive surgical procedures. He performed landmark work related to the prevention of infections following total joint replacement and, in 1984, received the Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and Orthopaedic Research Society for this work. Dr. Petty has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, and is the editor of Total Joint Replacement, a respected text on total joint replacement. Dr. Petty has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and has authored many articles related to joint replacement Surgery. He continues a part-time practice, assisting other surgeons with cases of joint arthroplasty. He speaks extensively in medical education and other venues.

Dr. Petty is one of three founders of Exactech, Inc. and has been Chief Executive Officer of the company since its inception. In twenty-five years, he has led the Company from a “kitchen table” entrepreneurial start up to revenues of $205 million in 2011 and over 550 employees world-wide. Exactech develops and markets products and services for human joint restoration directed to improving patient outcomes. Its success in doing so is largely due to a strong customer centric focus.