JOHN FEATHER, PhD, is chief executive officer of Grantmakers In Aging, the national association of grantmaking foundations and other organizations that work to improve the lives of older people. He also holds an adjunct assistant professor position at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work.
Prior to beginning his position of CEO at Grantmakers in Aging in 2011, he was executive director and CEO of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, the national membership organization of pharmacists who specialize in care of older persons. Until 2002, he was Director of the AARP Andrus Foundation, the research and education charity of AARP.
For the 17 years prior to that appointment in 1995, Feather held several positions at the State University of New York at Buffalo including clinical associate professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, executive director of the Primary Care Resource Center, and director of the Western New York Geriatric Education Center.
Feather is past chair of the board of directors of the American Society on Aging and a former officer or board member of 15 other national non-profit organizations. He received the ASA Award from the American Society on Aging for his work in policy, practice and education, and was elected a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. He was selected as one of the “50 Influencers in Aging” by Next Avenue, PBS’ national information source on aging, and received the Ophelia Rinaldi Lifetime Achievement Award from National Hispanic Council on Aging and was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Feather is an organizational sociologist by training and received his undergraduate education at The University of Texas at Austin and his masters and doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He has earned the designation of Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and Certified Association Executive (CAE).