Chester County’s Chief Operating Officer Celebrates 40 Years of Public Service

By

Mark Rupsis

Although Mark Rupsis has been married to his wife Ellie for 37 years, he’s been married to Chester County even longer.

Rupsis, Chester County’s Chief Operating Officer, just celebrated his 40th anniversary with the county.

The 64-year-old Philadelphia native who graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep considers himself blessed to have had such a long and distinguished career in public service.

“I have clear memories of when I was a kid and my father would vote,” said Rupsis. “He’d take me along into the booth, and allow me to observe him. He always talked politics and issues relating to governance. He’d say he liked this candidate for that reason or that candidate for this reason.

“That got ingrained in me from an early age. I think public service is in my blood.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Saint Bonaventure and a master’s in public administration from Penn State in the 1970s, Rupsis turned his eye toward working locally.


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“I sent letters to a few places, and I was fortunate that Chester County called me in for an interview,” he said. “Growing up in Philadelphia, I had this perception that Chester County was such a wonderful place, and my experiences later on have proved that to be correct.”

Rupsis’s first job with the county was as a program analyst tasked with examining the cost effectiveness and efficiency of some of the county’s programs. Since then, he’s had to update his business card more than a handful of times, having held the following positions (in chronological order):

  • Assistant to the Director of Human Resources
  • Assistant to the Director of Finance and Administration
  • Director of Administrative Services
  • Director of Administration
  • Chief Administrative Officer
  • Chief Operating Officer

In 2012, the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry honored Rupsis with the J. Larry Boling Innovation and Excellence in Government Award for distinguished service to the county.

Now, in his current role as COO, Rupsis leads the departments that fall under the Commissioners, and is a liaison to the court system and other elected officials.

“I’ll be 65 soon, but I’m really enjoying what I’m doing,” said Rupsis, a father of three who loves to jog, play the guitar, and live and die with Philadelphia’s sports teams. “I see a lot of my friends retiring, but I’m just not there yet.”

While Ellie might not appreciate that, Chester County certainly does.

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