NASDAQ's Tognino Elected to MDA National Leadership

TUCSON, Ariz., July 31, 2001 -- John N. Tognino of Bronxville, N.Y., executive vice president of NASDAQ, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Tognino, along with several other prominent New Yorkers, was named to the national leadership of the voluntary health organization during its annual meeting in Los Angeles today.

"We welcome John Tognino to this vital position of national leadership," MDA President and Executive Director Robert Ross said. "He joins a group, including other distinguished New Yorkers, who provide invaluable guidance to MDA in our ongoing pursuit of treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases."

Also during the meeting, Victor R. Wright, a limited partner of the Wall Street financial services firm Goldman Sachs & Co., was re-elected MDA's treasurer. Wright, who has served on the MDA board since 1991, lives in Harrison, N.Y.

Also re-elected to the MDA Board of Directors were:

• Louis R. Benzak of White Plains, N.Y., vice chairman of Spears Benzak Salomon and Farrell Inc. A past president of MDA, Benzak has been a director of the Association since 1975.
• Leon I. Charash, M.D., of Woodbury, N.Y. A pediatric neurologist and associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Cornell University Medical College, Charash also serves as chairman of MDA's Medical Advisory Committee.
• Joseph S. DiMartino of New Vernon, N.J., chairman of the board of the Dreyfus Group of Mutual Funds. He was treasurer of MDA from 1986 to 1991.
• David A. Gardner of New York City, president of Gardner Capital Corp., elected to his eighth term on the board.
• Sara S. Portnoy of New York City, a retired partner with the law firm of Proskauer Rose.
• Christopher J. Rosa, Ph.D., of Flushing, N.Y., director of the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities at Queens College, CUNY. Rosa is also a member of MDA's National Task Force on Public Awareness.
• Jeanne Y. Russell of New York City, senior vice president of Fiduciary Trust Co. International, which manages equity and balanced portfolios for institutions and individuals.

  Two other New Yorkers were elected national vice presidents of MDA during the meeting. They are artist Charles Fazzino of Museum Editions, Ltd., of New Rochelle; and Paul T. Kessenich of the Kessenich Family Charitable Trust, of New York City.

  MDA vice presidents provide counsel in their areas of expertise and assist the Association through advocacy and staunch support of its lifesaving programs and activities.

  New Yorkers re-elected for new one-year terms as MDA vice presidents are:

  Walter Anderson of White Plains, chairman, publisher and chief executive officer of Parade Publications; Vincent P. DeLazzero of Piermont, president of the Port Morris Tile & Marble Corp. of the Bronx; actor Ed Fry of Katonah;

  Stephen J. Furnary of Rye, managing director of Clarion Partners of New York; Sheldon C. Katz, a partner in the Katz Realty Group of New York; Mike Neary of StructureTone Inc.;

  TV/radio personality Denise Richardson; Lewis P. Rowland, professor of neurology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center Neurological Institute; and George J. Simko of Oyster Bay, former chairman of the executive committee of D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.

  MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education. MDA maintains six clinics in metropolitan New York.

  The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon will be broadcast Sept. 2-3, originating from CBS Television City in Hollywood and seen on WWOR-TV, Channel 9, in New York.