American Red Cross Names Search Committee for Permanent President and CEO

American Red Cross
Tuesday, 15 January 2002

Ambassador Jim Jones, Member of Board of Governors, Heads Search

David T. McLaughlin, Chairman of the American Red Cross, today announced the formation of an executive search committee to identify a permanent President and CEO of the organization. Harold Decker, formerly General Counsel of the Red Cross, is currently serving as the interim President and CEO.

Ambassador Jim Jones will lead the Board's search committee, joined by Kate Forbes, Chris Allen, Susan Hassmiller, Edward "Buzz" Heidt, Richard Niemiec and Dr. Lee Goldstein, all members of the Board of Governors. In addition, two internal advisory committees have been convened to assist in gathering and reporting information from the Red Cross' chapter and Biomedical Services field units. Russell Reynolds Associates, an international search firm, has been retained to assist the search committee.

"The search committee is a diverse group with skills and experience in finance, law, governance, volunteerism, medicine, profit and not-for-profit leadership," said Mr. McLaughlin. "Working together with Red Cross constituencies all across the country, I am confident that Ambassador Jones and his committee will lead an effective effort to find the very best candidate to become the next President and CEO of the American Red Cross."

The American Red Cross is dedicated to saving lives, easing suffering and restoring hope at home and around the world. Currently operating on a budget of $3 billion, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to the victims of more than 67,000 disasters nationwide and has been the primary supplier of lifesaving blood and blood products in the United States for more than 50 years. In 2000, the Red Cross also trained almost 12 million people in vital lifesaving skills, provided direct health services to nearly 2.6 million people and delivered more than 21 million locally relevant community services. The organization also assisted international disaster and conflict victims in close to 40 locations around the globe, and its emergency communication centers processed 1.2 million calls in support of U.S. military families.

For more information, or to contact American Red Cross, see their website at: www.redcross.org