Front row (left to right): Art Ulene, Fernando Torres-Gil, N. Joyce Payne (chair), Joan Ruff, George Rowan
back row (left to right): Bruce Corson, Joanne Handy,
Tom Nelson, Madeleine Moore-Burrell, J. David Nelson
Members of the AARP Foundation Board of
Directors are elected to serve two-year terms.
For the 2008-2010 biennium, they are:
N. Joyce Payne (Board Chair)
N. Joyce Payne, EdD, is an academic, executive and authority
on women’s issues from Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She
is a member of the AARP Board of Directors and serves on
its Audit and Finance Committee. Dr. Payne is executive
director of the National Endowment for the Public Trust, an
organization committed to advancing principled leadership,
inspired scholarship and trusted stewardship. She accepted
this position following her retirement as vice president
of human resources and minority programs for the
National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant
Colleges. She founded the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship
Fund, which has awarded over $50 million in scholarship
assistance and capacity-building support.
George Rowan (Vice Chair)
George Rowan, PhD, is a professor from East Lansing,
Michigan. He is a member of the AARP Board of Directors
and serves on its Member Value Social Impact Committee.
Previously he served as AARP Michigan State President. Dr.
Rowan is a professor at Michigan State University (MSU)
and holds an extension appointment. He has been involved
in a wide range of health and educational committees and
organizations, including the Michigan African American
Health Institute. Previously, he was director of the David
Walker Research Institute at MSU and assistant dean for
external relations, following service as a principal in the
Grand Rapids, Michigan public school system.
Joan Ruff, JD, of Mission Woods, Kansas, recently retired
after more than 30 years in the private sector. She spent
the last 10 years of her career as assistant vice president of
knowledge development for H&R Block, and as executive
vice president for corporate development at Zurich Financial
Services-North America. Ms. Ruff has been active in
community and professional groups for more than 30 years.
She has served on the executive committee for the Mid-Continent Council of Girl Scouts and as national delegate for
the Girl Scouts USA. She currently serves on the Electronic
Tax Administration Advisory Committee.
Joanne Handy (Audit Chair)
Joanne Handy, RN, MS, is a nurse and executive from San
Francisco, California. She is a member of the AARP Board
of Directors and serves on the AARP Insurance Trust. Ms.
Handy became president and CEO of Aging Services of
California in 2009 following 10 years as president and CEO
of the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston. Previously, she
headed the San Francisco-based Institute on Aging. In her
prior volunteer efforts, Ms. Handy was a board member of
the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, the National
Association of Home Care and the California Association for
Health Services at Home.
Arthur Ulene (Development Chair)
Art Ulene, M.D., of Los Angeles, California, is a Board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist who spearheaded the use
of television and other vehicles to promote public health.
The NBC Today Show featured his health reports for 23
years. He has written more than 50 health-related books
and home video/audio programs. A faculty member at the
University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine
for 20 years, he now serves on the Boards of Councilors for
the USC School of Pharmacy and the USC Leonard Davis
School of Gerontology and on the Advisory Boards for the
USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Claremont
Graduate University School of Community and Global
Health and the Children’s Partnership.
Madeleine Moore-Burrell
Madeleine Moore-Burrell of New York City is an expert in
multicultural marketing. She founded Moore Creative, the
first African American marketing firm awarded a post-apartheid contract with South Africa, launching the Sister
City agreement between New York City and Johannesburg.
For over a decade she marketed the annual New Orleans
Essence Music Festival. As co-founder of the National
Professionals Network, Inc., she has brought thousands
of African American professionals and industry leaders
together for the past 20 years at an annual Leadership
Summit at Sea conference.
