amfAR Announces the Election of Bill Roedy as Chairman of the Board
NEW YORK, October 4, 2018 – amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, has announced the election of longtime board member and former television executive William H. Roedy as Chairman of the Board. The election was held at a meeting of amfAR’s board of trustees on August 13.
Mr. Roedy is the former Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks International. He and his team built from scratch a global operation of 200 channels and 20 brands (including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central) in 200 countries, launching the most channels in the history of television. He is also a former vice president at HBO. He was named one of the “Pioneers” of the U.S. cable industry and was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2015. Earlier, he was a career officer in the United States Army, qualifying as an Airborne and Army Ranger. He was decorated for his combat service with the Bronze Star, Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.
“Having been involved in the fight against AIDS for more than two decades, I am honored to be taking the helm at an organization with an extraordinary record of achievement in HIV research and advocacy,” Mr. Roedy said. “HIV/AIDS remains one of the worId’s most serious public health challenges, but I am confident that amfAR can and will play a central role in bringing this epidemic to an end through the innovative research that has been its hallmark for more than 30 years.”
Mr. Roedy was named an Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 1998. He is a founding member of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS and was chair from 1998 to 2002. In 2005, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed Mr. Roedy founding chair of the Global Media AIDS Initiative Leadership Committee. He joined the amfAR board in 2010 and in the same year was appointed the first ever Envoy for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) by Mary Robinson, the GAVI Chair, joining the board in 2015. In 2018, he was appointed Vice Chair of GAVI. He is also the founding chairman of the Staying Alive Foundation, which provides young people with resources to fight the epidemic at the grass-roots level, in combination with MTV’s award-winning HIV/AIDS programming. In total, his global heath leadership spans eight different inititives.
About amfAR:
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested more than $517 million in its programs and has awarded more than 3,300 grants to research teams worldwide.
