PHA Names Stephen L. White As New Chair of Board of Trustees

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) recently nominated Stephen L. White as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the organization, after years of his involvement in the PHA’s ongoing national effort to prevent and cure pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a recent press release. He already serves as chair of the PHA’s Executive Committee and has a seat on several other key PHA committees, while also serving as an active lobbyist for the PHA on Capitol Hill.

This is White’s third term on the PHA Board of Trustees, and his first term as chair. White’s main work within the organization until now has focused on helping PHA support groups deal with grieving and spirituality, as he himself lost his daughter to the disease in 2002. He has also helped the PHA in other areas, such as Strategic Planning, Governance, and Development.

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“Steve has been an invaluable asset to PHA,” said the PHA President and CEO Rino Aldrighetti. “Through his work on PHA committees and his understanding of the patient and as well as the caregiver, Steve is a shining example of turning tragedy into triumph.”

With a a Ph.D. in health economics and management from The Heller School at Brandeis University and an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Cuttington University College in Liberia, West Africa, White served as Episcopal chaplain at Princeton University between 2000 and 2008. He is currently interim pastor at the All Saints’ Episcopal Church of the Berkshires in North Adams, Massachusetts, and provides spiritual mentoring to students at Yale Divinity School.

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Dr. Stephen L. White

White also holds a BA degree in psychology from Southern Connecticut State University, an MSW in clinical social work from Smith College School for Social Work, an MPA in health care management from Golden Gate University, and a M.Div. from The General Theological Seminary.

White also brings work experience in other not-for-profit and for-profit sectors of the healthcare field, including hospital administration, managed psychiatric care, teaching, and health services research at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. He also served as Vice President at Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, where he developed health promotion services and hospital consulting services. White is also co-founder of two start-up software companies, Preferred Systems and Bowstreet.

PHA works in order to increase hope for the PH community through support, education, research, advocacy, and awareness, working in collaboration with the entire PH community of patients, families, and medical professionals. When untreated, the average survival period for patients with the disease is only 2.8 years, since it affects both the lungs and heart function, leading to eventual heart failure. PHA has more than 245 support groups around the country and delivers continuing education for medical professionals in order to reduce untreated patients.