Dr. Kenneth R. Melani is president and chief executive officer of Highmark Inc., which operates as Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in Western Pennsylvania, Highmark Blue Shield in Central Pennsylvania and Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield in West Virginia. In this position, which he assumed on January 1, 2003, Dr. Melani oversees the day-to-day operations of one of the largest Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans in the country. Highmark's 20,000 employees serve more than 23 million people nationally through health, dental, vision and life and casualty insurance products and services.

Prior to his appointment as president and chief executive officer, Dr. Melani served as executive vice president of strategic business development and health services and president of Keystone Health Plan West, Highmark’s managed care subsidiary. In this role, he was responsible for the company's strategic planning, marketing, informatics and e-business development. Dr. Melani began his career with Highmark in 1989 as corporate medical director in the medical affairs department. Before joining the company, he was president and chief executive officer of West Penn Cares, Inc., a holding company for several health care ventures.Prior to his work with West Penn Cares, he owned a private practice in internal medicine, which he developed into a multi-location, multi-specialty group practice.

Dr. Melani is board certified in internal medicine (ABIM) and is a member of the Allegheny County Medical Society, Pennsylvania Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is chairman of the board of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and Variety, the Children’s Charity of Pittsburgh. He also serves on the boards of Highmark Inc., the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Association of Health Insurance Plans, National Institute of Health Care Management, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Holy Family Institute, Extra Mile, the Duquesne Club, and Washington and Jefferson College.

For his dedication to building stronger communities, the Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh awarded Dr. Melani with the 2007 Paul Lackner Person of Vision Award. The award is presented annually to an individual whose vision has made a difference in the lives of people in the Pittsburgh region. The Anti-Defamation League presented Dr. Melani with its National American Heritage Award in 2004 as a corporate and a community leader. In addition, he is a past recipient of the Tony Coelho Award, which recognizes a commitment to hiring people with disabilities, the Allegheny Valley School District Alumni Hall of Fame Award, the Junior Achievement Golden Achievement Award, which symbolizes the organization’s mission to inspire and educate young people to value free enterprise, and the Washington and Jefferson College Alumni Award for Achievement.

A summa cum laude graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, Dr. Melani enhanced a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a Doctorate of Medicine from the Bowman-Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University. He completed his residency in internal medicine at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital in 1982.

Dr. Melani and his wife, Tracy, live in Indiana Township, Pennsylvania. He has three daughters – Christine, Carrie and Alyssa.