Board of Directors
The Lance Armstrong Foundation Board of Directors serves as the guardian of our mission -- to inspire and empower people living with cancer. The LAF Board of Directors ensures that our mission continues to be appropriate, relevant and vital to the cancer survivorship community.
Lance Armstrong | Jeffery C. Garvey | Dennis Cavner |
Michael Sherwin | Craig Nichols, M.D.
Joe Aragona | Karen S. Cook | Harold P. Freeman, M.D. |
Sanjay Gupta, M.D. | David Johnson, M.D. | Hamilton Jordan |
Mark McKinnon | Amelie G. Ramirez, M.D. | Blaine P. Rollins |
E. Lee Walker
 Committees of the Board
Lance Armstrong - Chairman & Founder
Mr. Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. The world-class cyclist faced enormous odds and uncertainty about his future, but he came back from cancer to win the Tour de France 7 times consecutively from 1999 through 2005. As founder of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, he is a leading advocate for cancer survivors and the issues they face. Armstrong was recently appointed by President Bush to serve a three-year term as one of three members of the President's Cancer Panel, an advisory group that reports directly to the President about Americans and cancer.
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Jeffery C. Garvey - Vice Chairman & Founding Chair
Mr. Garvey is one of the founders of Austin Ventures, the largest venture capital firm in the Southwest with more than $2.9 billion under management and the fourth largest early-stage investment firm in the United States. Garvey has been actively involved with the Lance Armstrong Foundation since its inception in 1997. He is the founding chairman of the LAF Board of Directors.
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Dennis Cavner - Past Chairman
Mr. Cavner is a principal of Waxman Cavner Lawson, a financial services firm serving high net worth individuals, and SALI Fund Services, L.P., a fund administration company based in Austin and New York. He has been actively involved with the Lance Armstrong Foundation since 1999 and currently serves as Past Chair of the LAF Board of Directors. Cavner holds both business and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and has served on the UT Gift Planning Advisory Council. He lives with his wife Chris in Austin, Texas.
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Michael Sherwin - Treasurer
Mike Sherwin is a resident of Cleveland, Ohio and has been involved in the private equity capital investment business for many years. In addition to serving on many corporate boards, both public and private, Mr. Sherwin has had active roles with several non-profit organizations. From 1992 to 1997, he served as president of The Cleveland Museum of Art, an organization with an annual budget of approximately $35 million and an endowment of nearly $800 million.
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Craig Nichols, M.D. - Secretary
Dr. Nichols is chairman of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Oregon Health & Science University and specializes in the care of testis cancer and lymphoma patients. He is one of the world's foremost authorities in the research of these diseases. He also serves as chairman of the testis cancer subcommittee of the Southwest Oncology Group and serves on a number of review committees for the National Cancer Institute.
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Joe Aragona
Mr. Aragona is one of the founders of Austin Ventures and has served as a general partner since 1982. He currently focuses on services and special situations investing, and has a successful track record of investing in a broad range of industries. He has worked with companies such as BenefitMall, BroadJump (NASDAQ: MOTV), LDR Spine USA, Orion Marine Group, QuickArrow, Sheshunoff Information Services, Southern Star Concrete, and Staktek (NASDAQ: STAK). Aragona was appointed to the chairmanship of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) in May of 2005 after serving on the NVCA board in 1999 and chairing the Research Committee. He is a also a member of the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Founder’s Circle and chairperson of the LAF Golf Invitational. Aragona received a B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University.
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Karen S. Cook
Ms. Cook has more than 30 years of experience in the investment industry starting as an equity trader at Goldman Sachs and continuing into hedge fund management. She is CIO of Steinhardt Mgt. Co. and general partner of Nepeta Partners, LP. She is involved with a number of philanthropic endeavors, most notably with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She is a trustee of Milestone Funds (money market mutual funds) and serves on the board of Fifth Avenue Alternative Investments (Bessemer Trust). Ms. Cook received a BA from Wheaton College where she is a trustee. She received her MBA from NYU.
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Harold P. Freeman, M.D.
Dr. Freeman is senior advisor to the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, Maryland. He is responsible for strategies to achieve NCI’s 2015 goal to eliminate cancer health disparities. Dr. Freeman is also president, founder, and medical director of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention in New York, New York. He is a professor of clinical surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, also in New York. For twenty five years (1974–1999), Dr. Freeman was director of surgery at Harlem Hospital in New York and, for a two year period ending in 2001, Dr. Freeman served as the president and CEO of North General Hospital in New York. Dr. Freeman served as national president of the American Cancer Society from 1988-1989. He is the chief architect of the American Cancer Society’s initiative on Cancer in the Poor and is a leading authority on the interrelationships between race, poverty, and cancer. The Society established the “Harold P. Freeman Award” in 1990 to recognize his work in this area. This award is presented annually by American Cancer Society divisions throughout the U.S. to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the fight against cancer in the poor. Dr. Freeman pioneered the “Patient Navigation Program” which addresses disparities in access to treatment, particularly among poor and uninsured people. This program is designed to assist medically underserved patients in navigating their way through a complex health system by overcoming barriers to timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The success of Dr. Freeman’s “Patient Navigation Program” has led many other health care organizations to adopt similar initiatives. Based on this model the Patient Navigator and Chronic Disease Prevention Act was signed into law by President Bush in June 2005. As a graduate of Catholic University of America, Dr. Freeman received the Harris Award for “Outstanding Scholar, Gentleman, and Athlete.” He later was recognized as “Outstanding Alumnus in the Medical Arts” at Catholic University and was inducted into the Athlete’s Hall of Fame of the University. Additionally, he received the Daniel Hale Williams Award for Outstanding Achievements as Chief Resident at Howard University Hospital.
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Sanjay Gupta, M.D.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is chief medical correspondent for the health and medical unit at CNN. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon and an assistant professor of neurosurgery, plays an integral role in the network's medical coverage, which includes daily packages, the half-hour weekend show House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and coverage of breaking medical news. Based in Atlanta, he also co-hosts Accent Health for Turner Private Networks, provides medical segments for the syndicated version of ER on TNT, contributes health news stories to CNN.com, writes a column for TIME magazine and recently launched a weekly podcast called "Paging Dr. Gupta." Dr. Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001 and became part of the network team covering the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City. Breaking news about anthrax and its deadly effects highlighted Gupta's coverage.
In addition to his work for CNN, Gupta is a member of the staff and faculty of the department of neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and performs surgeBefore joining CNN, Gupta was a neurosurgeon at the University of Tennessee's Semmes-Murphy clinic, and before that, the University of Michigan Medical Center. He became partner of the Great Lakes Brain and Spine Institute in 2000 and in 1997, he was chosen as a White House Fellow — one of only 15 fellows appointed. He served as special advisor to the first lady.
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David Johnson, M.D.
Dr. Johnson is a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia. In 1983 he joined the Vanderbilt faculty where he holds the Cornelius Abernathy Craig Chair in Medical and Surgical Oncology. He is a board-certified internist and medical oncologist, an internationally recognized clinical investigator in the fields of lung and breast cancer, the author of more than 300 publications, editor or co-editor of numerous oncology textbooks and a member of the editorial board of numerous internal medicine and cancer journals. For his pioneering work in the treatment of lung cancer, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group named Dr. Johnson Investigator of the Year in 1992. He received an Outstanding Clinical Investigator Award in 1997 from the Alliance of Lung Cancer Survivors' Network. Currently Dr. Johnson serves as the Deputy Director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and Director of the Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology. Dr. Johnson has been named to numerous "Best Doctors" lists including Woodward & White's Best Doctors in America, Good Housekeeping magazine's "top oncologists for women" and in 1996 he was identified by American Health magazine as one of the best oncology specialists in the U.S. in a poll taken among Department of Medicine Chairmen.
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Hamilton Jordan
Mr. Jordan is the author of two best-selling books. He is currently self-employed and is an early investor in a number of medical and biotech start-up companies. He spends about half of his time on non-profit work, largely focused on the funding of cancer research. His most recent project is with the Georgia Cancer Coalition, a $1 billion association that he founded with the goal of making Georgia a leader in the research, early detection and treatment of cancer. Previously, Mr. Jordan directed Jimmy Carter's campaign for the presidency and served as Chief-of-Staff in the Carter White House. He lives with his wife Dorothy and three children in Atlanta.
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Mark McKinnon
Mr. McKinnon is currently Vice Chairman at Public Strategies, Inc., the president of Maverick Media and an advisor to President George W. Bush. McKinnon directed media strategy during the 2000 presidential campaign and is serving in the same capacity for the 2004 race. McKinnon is a University of Texas alumnus and served as editor of the award-winning Daily Texan newspaper and UTmost magazine. He is also a board member for the Cancer Research Foundation of America and Friends of Cancer Research.
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Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH
Ms. Ramirez is a Professor of Medicine and Deputy Director, Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. A former member of the National Cancer Advisory Board, Dr. Ramirez was appointed by the Secretary of Health to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health. She serves on the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation’s National Health Advisory Council and is Chair of the Komen Foundation Hispanic/Latino Task Force. She also is a member of the Media and Counter Marketing Panel of the American Legacy Foundation, Board of Directors of the Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco, Physician Oncology Education Program of the Texas Medical Association, and the Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition of the Texas Department of Health. Dr. Ramirez also serves as Associate Director of Community Research for the San Antonio Cancer Institute.
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Blaine P. Rollins
Mr. Rollins is a testicular cancer survivor from 1998. From 1990 to 2006, he worked for Janus Capital analyzing and investing in public companies. A Colorado University graduate with a BS in Finance, he now lives with his wife and 2 kids in Denver, Colorado.
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E. Lee Walker
In 1993, Mr. Walker and his wife, Jennifer Vickers, founded the Community Investment Corporation, where they continue to work in the interests of merging the principles of business and community within the Austin municipal area. Mr. Walker currently serves as chair of Pavilion, a software and data mining company, and the Capitol Metro Transportation Authority. For his salutary efforts as chairman of Austin's Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Austin Chamber of Commerce recognized Walker as their 1998 Austinite of the Year. Previously, he taught several courses at the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a best teaching award three times. He also served as the president of Dell Computer Corporation through its formative years.
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