Wakefern’s Janeway to Lead Health Foundation Boards

Dean Janeway, president emeritus of Wakefern Food Corp., has been named chairman of the boards of New Jersey Health Foundation and its affiliate, the Foundation of UMDNJ. The previous chairman of both boards was Roger Fine, retired VP and general counsel of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson. Fine will remain on both boards.

Janeway joined Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern in 1966, and was president and COO for 16 years. He has served on the board of directors for the National Co-op Bank, as well as the National Grocers Association, where he was also chairman for two years. Janeway received the New Jersey Food Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. In 2011, the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) presented him with its highest distinction, The Herbert Hoover Award, for his professional excellence in serving the food retail and wholesale industry.

“Based on my work with Dean over the past three years, while he’s been on our boards, he has demonstrated great common sense and judgment,” noted Fine, who has been a member of the boards for 15 years. “He is a terrific choice to lead our group as we continue to advance health care in New Jersey.”

Janeway will retire from Wakefern in January 2012, whereupon he’ll be succeeded by EVP Joe Sheridan, a 35-year veteran of the company.

Wakefern, the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States, consists of 47 members who individually own and operate more than 230 supermarkets under the ShopRite banner in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. Wakefern also operates 45 PriceRite stores in five states. The company was named Progressive Grocer's Retailer of the Year in the trade publication's October 2011issue.

New Brunswick-based New Jersey Health Foundation, established in 2002 as a not-for-profit, public charity, is the parent company of the Foundation of UMDNJ, which solicits private-sector support for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and of Foundation Venture Capital Group, LLC, which makes private equity investments in startup technology companies founded by researchers at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey.