01.06.12
Sharon Mellor, Ph.D., is starting the new year with a (fairly) new job. The former academic administrator has assumed the leadership of the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF), a Rosemont, Ill.-based organization that administers musculoskeletal health grants. As of September 2011, the group had awarded more than 3,800 grants and awards totaling $115 million.
Mellor began her tenure as CEO on Dec. 1. She has about 25 years of experience in fundraising for medical and educational foundations, serving most recently as associate vice president for resource development at the College of DuPage (COD) in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and executive director of the C.O.D. Foundation, a 44-year-old organization that raises money and in-kind gifts to help improve educational access and cultural opportunities for the local community. She also was CEO of the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation in Chicago, Ill., an associate executive director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation in Rosemont, and held several executive positions in development and communications for the American Osteopathic Association, a Chicago-based group that represents 78,000 osteopathic doctors worldwide.
“Sharon Mellor has everything OREF was looking for in a CEO,” Ramon L. Jimenez, search committee chairman and OREF board president-elect, said in a news release announcing Mellor’s appointment. “We are particularly impressed with her emphasis on optimizing the effectiveness of donor contributions and in developing support for all sectors of the orthopedic community.”
Mellor vowed to work with partner organizations to raise the level of philanthropy in the orthopedic sector and promised to be generous with the donations OREF receives to ensure orthopedic surgeons receive top-notch educational opportunities.
“I’m very anxious to make sure we’re good stewards of the donations we receive and that we’re funding research and educational opportunities that have the most benefit for orthopedic surgeons and their families,” she told AAOS Now, a monthly journal published by the Rosemont-based advocacy group American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. “In addition, I look forward to engaging in a dialogue with orthopaedic surgeons rather than just telling them about the wonderful things we’re doing. I believe we have really strong staff support. I look forward to looking at new ideas.”
A member of MENSA, the world’s largest and oldest high-IQ society, Mellor earned a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in organizational behavior and development from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio; an MBA from Loyola University in Chicago; and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and organizational communications from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. She has served as president of the Chicago Association of Healthcare Executives and the American Society of Dental Foundation Executives, also based in Chicago. Mellor also is a member of various professional organizations, including the Washington, D.C.-based American Society of Association Executives, Association Forum of Chicagoland, Association of Fundraising Professionals in Arlington, Va., Council for Advancement and Support of Education (also based in Washington, D.C.), and the West Suburban Philanthropic Network in Wheaton, Ill.
Mellor began her tenure as CEO on Dec. 1. She has about 25 years of experience in fundraising for medical and educational foundations, serving most recently as associate vice president for resource development at the College of DuPage (COD) in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and executive director of the C.O.D. Foundation, a 44-year-old organization that raises money and in-kind gifts to help improve educational access and cultural opportunities for the local community. She also was CEO of the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation in Chicago, Ill., an associate executive director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation in Rosemont, and held several executive positions in development and communications for the American Osteopathic Association, a Chicago-based group that represents 78,000 osteopathic doctors worldwide.
“Sharon Mellor has everything OREF was looking for in a CEO,” Ramon L. Jimenez, search committee chairman and OREF board president-elect, said in a news release announcing Mellor’s appointment. “We are particularly impressed with her emphasis on optimizing the effectiveness of donor contributions and in developing support for all sectors of the orthopedic community.”
Mellor vowed to work with partner organizations to raise the level of philanthropy in the orthopedic sector and promised to be generous with the donations OREF receives to ensure orthopedic surgeons receive top-notch educational opportunities.
“I’m very anxious to make sure we’re good stewards of the donations we receive and that we’re funding research and educational opportunities that have the most benefit for orthopedic surgeons and their families,” she told AAOS Now, a monthly journal published by the Rosemont-based advocacy group American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. “In addition, I look forward to engaging in a dialogue with orthopaedic surgeons rather than just telling them about the wonderful things we’re doing. I believe we have really strong staff support. I look forward to looking at new ideas.”
A member of MENSA, the world’s largest and oldest high-IQ society, Mellor earned a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in organizational behavior and development from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio; an MBA from Loyola University in Chicago; and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and organizational communications from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. She has served as president of the Chicago Association of Healthcare Executives and the American Society of Dental Foundation Executives, also based in Chicago. Mellor also is a member of various professional organizations, including the Washington, D.C.-based American Society of Association Executives, Association Forum of Chicagoland, Association of Fundraising Professionals in Arlington, Va., Council for Advancement and Support of Education (also based in Washington, D.C.), and the West Suburban Philanthropic Network in Wheaton, Ill.