Alzheimer's Association Names New President and CEO

Alzheimer's Association
Thursday, 22 February 2001

The Alzheimer's Association has appointed Alan J. Stone as president and chief executive officer effective Feb. 19. Stone was most recently president of Alma College in Alma, Michigan, from 1988 to 2000. With more than two decades of experience heading higher education institutions, Stone has had a long and distinguished career in academia.

Stone, 58, will succeed Edward F. Truschke, who announced last May that he would retire in the spring of 2001. Truschke led the Association for the past 14 years.

Selected from among an extraordinary group of applicants, Stone says he hopes to help the Alzheimer's Association expand its outreach and support to the millions of families who face Alzheimer's disease and accelerate the pace of research to find a prevention and cure for the disease, which currently affects more than four million Americans.

"We are in a race against time to stop this devastating disease from destroying the Baby Boomer generation of 76 million Americans, who are entering the period of greatest risk for getting this disease," said Stone. "We must marshal all our resources and efforts to eliminate Alzheimer's while providing help to families who now combat this disease everyday."

Alzheimer's Association board chair Orien Reid says Stone has an impressive record in organizational growth, management and fundraising.

"We are excited and pleased that Alan has accepted the challenge of leading the Alzheimer's Association in the new century, as our society faces a potentially overwhelming and devastating epidemic of Alzheimer's," says Reid. "His background and experience shows that he is a good decision maker, who is insightful, supportive and compassionate.

"We were impressed by his leadership at Alma that resulted in tremendous increases in enrollment, alumni giving and diversity," Reid adds. "He has shown a strong commitment to diversity, which is one of the Association's top priorities. At Alma, he significantly increased the number of minority students and staff, established a student exchange program with an historically black college and secured several grants for the college's diversity efforts."

As president of Alma College, Stone was responsible for increasing the college's enrollment by 40 percent, expanding the campus's programs and facilities and raising academic standards. Under his leadership, average ACT scores increased from 23 to nearly 26 and annual giving to Alma more than doubled.

From 1977 to 1988, Stone was president of Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois. Stone led an innovative and creative marketing campaign to recruit more students, including a 30-second commercial on MTV and full-page ads in Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Time and U.S. News & World Report. During Stone's tenure at Aurora, student enrollment doubled.

While at Aurora University, Stone chaired the West Suburban Regional Academic Consortium, consisting of a dozen academic institutions in Du Page and Kane Counties, including Aurora. A major study issued by the consortium in 1987 resulted in a greater coordination of graduation education programs in the region to meet the post-bachelor's degree training needs of hundreds of thousands of employees in the counties' high-tech corridor.

For more information, or to contact Alzheimer's Association, see their website at: www.alz.org