The American Diabetes Association (ADA) welcomes the 2021 Principal Officers and Board of Directors. The 17-member board is comprised of forward-thinking, innovative medical, scientific, education and executive business professionals, who will strategically lead and focus efforts to ensure the ADA continues to uphold the mission upon which it was founded.
"I am so excited to announce our 2021 Board of Directors, including five new Board members,” said Tracey D. Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the ADA. “I look forward to the insight and skills that each of these thought leaders will provide to help move the needle and improve the lives of people living with diabetes. We are also thankful for the service and commitment of our outgoing Principal Officers Umesh Verma, Robert Eckel, Mary de Groot and Martha Parry Clark, and know that they will remain dedicated to our mission in their future endeavors.”
The Principal Officers of the Board of Directors who start their terms of service on January 1, 2021 are:
John Schlosser, Chairman of the Board
As President of Terminals for Kinder Morgan, Inc., Mr. Schlosser oversees the largest independent network of liquids and bulk terminals in North America. Kinder Morgan's terminals have approximately 88 million barrels of liquids capacity and handle about 100 million tons of bulk materials annually. The liquids terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and the bulk facilities store and handle coal, petroleum coke and other materials. Additionally, the Terminals business owns Jones Act product tankers that are engaged in the marine transportation of crude oil, condensate and refined products in the United States. Kinder Morgan Terminals generates approximately $20B in annual revenue and $1.2B in annual EBITDA. Mr. Schlosser holds a Bachelor of Science degree in science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He is a past chairman and member of the Houston Chapter’s American Diabetes Association. He also serves on the board of directors for the Greater Houston Port Bureau and on the board of the Kinder Morgan Foundation. Mr. Schlosser has two children, Elizabeth and Clay.
Ruth Weinstock, MD, PhD, President, Medicine & Science
Ruth S. Weinstock is SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and Division Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in the Department of Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY. She is also the Medical Director of the Clinical Research Unit and Medical Director of the Joslin Diabetes Center at Upstate Medical University. Dr. Weinstock graduated from Smith College summa cum laude with Highest Honors in the Biological Sciences and received her MD and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. She received the SUNY Research Foundation Award Honoring Research in Science, Engineering and Medicine, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, the American Diabetes Association Outstanding Physician-Clinician Award, and the Samuel Elchoid II Memorial Award for Contributions in Diabetes from the American College of Physicians. Her research over the past 30 years has focused on the study of new approaches for the prevention and management of diabetes mellitus and its complications, including studies examining the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of telemedicine for different underserved populations with diabetes delivered to a variety of settings. Dr. Weinstock is a member of numerous professional organizations. She has more than 200 publications and has served on grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK), on the National Board of Directors and numerous committees of the American Diabetes Association over the past 25 years and as Associate Editor of Diabetes Care as well as Section Editor for Endocrinology for the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, on the editorial board of Endocrinology, on national committees for the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as on other national, regional and local committees and task forces related to diabetes research and improving diabetes care.
Cynthia Muñoz, PhD, MPH, President, Health Care & Education
Cynthia E. Muñoz, Ph.D., MPH, is Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC (the University of Southern California) in Los Angeles, where she provides clinical care to children, youth and families with diabetes through the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (CEDM) Embedded Psychology Program and the CHLA Behavioral Health Center. A licensed psychologist who is bilingual and serves patients in both English and Spanish, Dr. Muñoz co-developed a psychoeducational and skills-based program, TEEN POWER, for adolescents with insulin-treated diabetes, their siblings and their caregivers. TEEN POWER is now offered through the CHLA Behavioral Health Center and the CEDM and targets a diverse population, including adolescents in the foster care system.
Christopher Ralston, JD, Secretary/Treasurer
Christopher K. Ralston, JD, is a partner and practice coordinator in the New Orleans litigation practice at Phelps Dunbar LLP. Mr. Ralston handles a range of commercial litigation and focuses in the areas of antitrust law, business torts, trade secret litigation and contract disputes, tax litigation, securities litigation and arbitration, direct selling and intellectual property litigation. He also serves as a part of the firm’s appellate practice. Mr. Ralston’s work in the legal field has received recognition in numerous forms: in 2009, he received the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Friend of Pro Bono Award; in 2012, he was named to the New Orleans City Business Hall of Fame; and in 2016, he received both the Federal Bar Association’s New Orleans Chapter President’s Award and the Louisiana State Bar Association’s President’s Award. After recognizing the devastating impact of diabetes in New Orleans, Mr. Ralston joined the ADA’s New Orleans Community Leadership Board (CLB) in 2009, and he has served as Chair of the CLB since 2014.
The Elect Officers for 2021 are:
Glen Tullman, Chairman-Elect
Glen Tullman is Founder and former Executive Chairman of Livongo and is passionately committed to finding a cure for diabetes and other chronic conditions and keeping people healthy until we do. A visionary leader and entrepreneur, he previously ran two public companies that changed the way healthcare is delivered. Tullman is also a co-founder and partner in 7wireVentures, an early-stage investment firm focused on health care. He is the author of On Our Terms: Empowering the New Health Consumer, which proposes new solutions to address the chronic-condition epidemic facing our country.
Guillermo Umpierrez, MD, CDE, President-Elect, Medicine & Science
Guillermo Umpierrez, MD, CDE is professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, and Director of the Diabetes and Endocrinology section at Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards for Best Clinical Teacher and Mentor at Emory University, and national awards from the American College of Physicians, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Endocrine Society and the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Umpierrez is a member of the ADA National Board of Directors and will serve as the ADA President-Elect in 2021. His research interests include mechanisms for beta-cell dysfunction in minority populations, prevention of acute and chronic diabetic complications, and hospital management of patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia. He is the author of more than 400 scientific manuscripts and book chapters and has presented over 300 research abstracts at national and international scientific meetings. In addition, he heads the Emory Latino Diabetes Education Program, a nationally accredited Spanish Diabetes education program dedicated to providing diabetes education to Latinos.
Otis Kirksey, PharmD, RPh, CDE, BC-ADM, President-Elect, Health Care & Education
Otis W. Kirksey currently serves as the Director of Pharmacy Services for Neighborhood Medical Center in Tallahassee, FL. He brings 25 years of experience in academia as a former Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Prior to his faculty appointment, he was a clinical pharmacist in Research and Information Services at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. He served more than 11 years on the board of Neighborhood Medical Center and is currently the director of the Prince Hall Shriners' National Diabetes Initiative. In this role, he has led the organization's effort to fulfill its 10-year, $1 million-dollar commitment to the American Diabetes Association to support research and outreach efforts in underserved communities, particularly African American and Hispanic.
Marshall Case, Secretary/Treasurer-Elect
Marshall has a passion for improving the lives of those with diabetes and has been a volunteer with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) since 2008, serving as a Tour de Cure Corporate and National Team Captain, Silicon Valley Tour Volunteer Chair, Community Leadership Board member, and National ADA Finance Committee member for the past two years. He is an operations-oriented business management leader with strong business acumen. He led public, private, and divisional executive leadership teams through growth and restructuring transformations. Case retired from Lockheed Martin in 2016 as Vice President of Infrastructure Services for the $8B Space Systems Business. Prior to that he was Vice President of Finance and Operations for two Lockheed Martin business units and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for private and public high technology companies. He started his career on the Financial Management program at General Electric Company in Erie, PA. He now resides in Savannah, GA and is actively involved in community service and pursuing his lifelong love of triathlon competition.
New At-Large Board Members are:
Todd F. Brown, PMP is the Founder and Chief Executive Office of TheYard Inc., a private equity strategy consultancy. In the role, he draws upon 20 years of venture capital and C-suite leadership experience at Fortune 50 companies to help Silicon Valley startups develop business plans, raise capital, and execute their business ideas. Prior to starting his firm, Todd was the Chief Executive Officer of TheGrio, a former division of NBC News and the largest online media company geared toward African American audiences. He also held a board-level position at Johnson Publishing Company, where he increased the digital footprint of Ebony, Jet, and Fashion Fair magazines by rolling out technology to increase reader engagement. He also helped revitalize the public’s perception of the publications by building an experiential marketing division for the business. Earlier in his career, Todd held senior leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies including Comcast, Viacom, GE Capital, Comdisco, Dell, and HP, where he streamlined processes and drove tangible financial results. He is an expert in the development and implementation of corporate strategy and cultural transformation initiatives, management operations, and technology disruption. Todd holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Oklahoma State University. He completed executive management programs at Harvard Business School and UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. As a diverse executive, Todd founded the Diversity Special Interest Group at the Project Management Institute that now has seven chapters at historically black colleges and universities. He has served on nonprofit boards at Boulder Special Transit, Oklahoma University, and the University of Texas and is an active member of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Rone Luczynski has spent most of his last 30 years helping major retailers manage and reengineer their supply chains to operate more efficiently and profitably. Currently, Rone is the Assistant Vice President of Supply Chain Management (SCM) at Service Corporation International, Inc. (SCI), North America’s largest single provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services. He also holds the title of President of SCI Shared Resources, LLC., which is SCI’s Procurement Corporation. SCI has over 2,000 locations and 24,000 employees in 45 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In his current role, Rone is responsible for all Procurement and Supply Chain activities at SCI. Rone oversees a dedicated team of individuals that manage over $1.0 billion in spend and supports our 2,000 locations with products and services. SCM is also responsible for continuous process improvement having moved SCI from a decentralized purchasing company to a center-led end-to-end supply chain organization to Leverage Scale, one of the three major strategies for the corporation. The supply chain team are also the co-owners of Procure to Pay, Inventory Management, Vendor Management among other functions. Rone and his team have been instrumental in driving out millions in costs and expenses as well as driving revenue increases for SCI. Rone currently serves on the ADA’s South Texas Community Leadership Board (CLB) and the Houston. CLB where he was Past Chairman. Rone was head of the SCI Team Dignity Tour de Cure team which is the largest corporate fundraising team in the nation. Rone is also a member of the ADA national Volunteer Committee for 2020. Rone was a founding Board Member of SCI’s Dignity Memorial Foundation and currently serves on the US Bank and Boundless Customer Advisory Boards.
We are thankful for the years of service, dedication and commitment of the following members of the Board whose terms will be ending on December 31, 2020:
- Robert Cuddihy, MD
- David Herrick, MBA
- Gretchen Youssef, MS, RD, CDE
“I am honored to announce this esteemed group of individuals who have outstanding records of value creation in business, science, medicine, and healthcare said Umesh Verma, 2020 ADA Board Chairman. “They bring a great wealth of expertise and experience to the ADA and we look forward to collaboration and their leadership as we continue to help people with diabetes thrive.”
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,About the American Diabetes Association
Every day more than 4,000 people are newly diagnosed with diabetes in America. More than 122 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes and are striving to manage their lives while living with the disease. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization fighting to bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic and help people living with diabetes thrive. For 80 years the ADA has been driving discovery and research to treat, manage and prevent diabetes, while working relentlessly for a cure. We help people with diabetes thrive by fighting for their rights and developing programs, advocacy and education designed to improve their quality of life. Diabetes has brought us together. What we do next will make us Connected for Life. To learn more or to get involved, visit us at diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383). Join the fight with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).
