Walgreens CEO Elected NACDS Chair

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) elected new officers, one new executive committee member and five new directors for the coming year during the associations’ annual meeting held this week.

Gregory D. Wasson, president and CEO of Walgreen Co., was elected as the new NACDS board chairman, to succeed Robert D. Loeffler, chief administrative officer of H-E-B.

In addition, Bob Narveson, president and CEO of Thrifty White Pharmacy was elected vice chairman, and John Standley, president and CEO of Rite Aid Corporation, was elected treasurer.

“We welcome Greg Wasson as NACDS chairman of the board,” said NACDS president and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE. “Greg has demonstrated an incredible passion for conveying the value of community pharmacy during his service as a Board officer and chairman of the NACDS Political Action Committee. We look forward to working with him in his new role as chairman of the Board in the coming year.”

In addition to the election of the new officers for one-year terms, the NACDS board elected John Standley, president and CEO of Rite Aid as a new executive committee member.

Five new board of directors members were also elected: Anthony (A.J.) Caffentzis, general VP, business management, retail of Good Neighbor Pharmacy; Mark Cosby, EVP of CVS Caremark Corporation; Mark Murray, president of Meijer Inc.; Juan Ortiz, chief executive officer of Navarro Discount Pharmacies; and Frank Scorpiniti, CEO of Rexall Pharma Plus.

These five new Board members will join the other 22 members of the NACDS Board of Directors to develop NACDS’ policies and priorities.

NACDS also welcomed among new attendees the representatives of leading international retailers. Alliance Boots of the United Kingdom, Implozia Pharmacy Network of the Russian Federation and Sinopharm Group Co., Ltd. of China were represented for the first time at the NACDS Annual Meeting.

“Top-to-top business programming at the Annual Meeting is without equal, and is further illustrated by the attendance of these robust international companies,” said Anderson. “We are pleased to welcome Alliance Boots, Implozia Pharmacy Network and Sinopharm Group, Ltd to participate in this important industry event.”

NACDS represents traditional drug stores, supermarkets, and mass merchants with pharmacies – from regional chains with four stores to national companies.