Hancock Man Chair of Pulmonary Hypertension Association
 |
| Rev. Stephen White |
HANCOCK, Mass. — The Rev. Stephen L. White of Hancock recently took the helm as chairman of the board of trustees for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, based in Silver Spring, Md.
PHA is the world's leading pulmonary hypertension association and works to find ways to prevent and cure pulmonary hypertension — a disease of the lungs that affects the functioning of the heart and can lead to right heart failure. Without treatment, mean survivability is only 2.8 years. White lost his daughter to PH in 2002.
White has been involved with helping PHA support groups deal with grieving and spirituality. He is also chairman PHA's Executive Committee and sits on several PHA committees, including Strategic Planning, Governance, and Development, and is active as a lobbyist for PHA on Capitol Hill.
"Steve has been an invaluable asset to PHA," said 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."
White, a native of Leominster, served as Episcopal chaplain at Princeton University from 2000 to 2008. He currently serves All Saints Episcopal Church of the Berkshires in North Adams as an interim pastor and provides spiritual mentoring to students at Yale Divinity School. Prior to entering the ordained ministry in 1997, White worked in various capacities in the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors of the health care field including hospital administration, managed psychiatric care, teaching and health services research at the University of South Florida College of Public Health, and developing health promotion services and hospital consulting services as a Vice President at Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems.
White also co-founded two startup software companies: Preferred Systems (acquired by Computer Associates) and Bowstreet (acquired by IBM).
This is White's third term on the trustees and his first as chairman. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Southern Connecticut State University, an master's of social work in clinical social work from Smith College School for Social Work, an master's of public administration in health care management from Golden Gate University, and a master of divinity from the General Theological Seminary. He also holds a doctorate 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.
