Chairman of the Board Kenneth Cole named Sharon Stone to the position of global fundraising chairman and announced the election of Natasha Richardson and Diana L. Taylor to the Foundation’s board of trustees. They join such esteemed colleagues on amfAR’s board as legendary performer and humanitarian Harry Belafonte and Edward L. Milstein, a major force in the business life of New York City. On the staff side, Kevin Robert Frost has been appointed chief executive officer and Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A., (ret.), has been named senior medical and policy advisor.

“I am very pleased that amfAR continues to grow and expand its capacity to address the global AIDS epidemic,” Mr. Cole said. “These appointments will bring new vigor to the organization and help reaffirm amfAR’s position as a leader in AIDS research and an influential voice for people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.”

Kevin Frost was previously vice president for Global Initiatives at amfAR and has been interim CEO since March 2007. Prior to joining the Foundation in September 1994, Mr. Frost spent four years at New York University Medical Center where he worked primarily on clinical research studies of cytomegalovirus retinitis in people with HIV/AIDS. He also served for a year as the inpatient care coordinator of the AIDS program at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital. Mr. Frost lived and worked extensively in Asia, where he facilitated the development of TREAT Asia, a network of more than 50 hospitals, community clinics, NGOs, and health-care facilities, working together with civil society in 17 countries to build capacity for scaling up treatment efforts in the region. He served as a member of the international advisory committee for the 2004 International AIDS Conference in Barcelona and was a member of the scientific committee for the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Mr. Frost has also served on the advisory panels for three U.S. Food and Drug Administration hearings on AIDS-related drug treatments. He has published in numerous journals including The Lancet, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Journal of AIDS (JAIDS), Journal of Infectious Diseases, and The AIDS Reader.

“amfAR’s 25 years of experience fighting AIDS obligates us to do all we can in our efforts to end this pandemic,” Mr. Frost said. “And while the needs are great, amfAR is well positioned to continue to make major contributions to HIV research, prevention, treatment, and advocacy in the coming years. I’m honored by this appointment and I look forward to working with my colleagues at amfAR to take on the complex challenges that lie ahead.”

Since becoming chairman of amfAR’s Campaign for AIDS Research in 1995, Sharon Stone has traveled nationally and internationally on the Foundation’s behalf. She has worked tirelessly to heighten awareness of HIV/AIDS and to underscore the urgent need for continued AIDS research. Ms. Stone’s dynamic presence and captivating skills have been indispensable elements in a number of highly successful amfAR benefits. Through personal appearances, benefit premieres of her movies, and other special events, Ms. Stone has helped amfAR raise millions of dollars and has greatly increased AIDS awareness worldwide.

An award-winning stage and screen actress, Natasha Richardson has conceived, organized, and spearheaded a number of highly successful amfAR events. Her service to AIDS organizations in the U.S. includes work with Bailey House, God’s Love We Deliver, and Mothers’ Voices in the U.S., and and in the U.K. with Aids Crisis Trust and National Aids Trust, for which she is an ambassador. Ms. Richardson received amfAR’s Award of Courage in November 2000.

Diana L. Taylor has more than 20 years of experience serving in the public and private sectors. She currently serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, chairs a commission for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that concentrates on financially underserved communities, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In April 2007, Ms. Taylor joined the investment banking firm of Wolfensohn & Co. as a managing director. Previously, she was superintendent of banks for the State of New York.

Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. (ret.), has been a leading U.S. government health expert and spokesperson for more than 20 years. She served as assistant surgeon general of the U.S.; the first-ever deputy assistant secretary for women’s health; senior global and e-health advisor in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; chief of the Behavioral Medicine and Basic Prevention Research Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health, NIH; and as a White House advisor on health issues. Dr. Blumenthal is currently distinguished advisor on health and medicine at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and a clinical professor at Georgetown and Tufts Schools of Medicine. She is the recipient of numerous awards, medals, and honorary doctorates for her landmark contributions to improving health. Her work in the government has included a focus on HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980s.