Steven Anderson ’75 is Trade Association CEO of Year

National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) president and CEO Steven C. Anderson ’75 has been selected as the 2016 Trade Association CEO of the Year by an independent panel of association leadership experts.

The award is presented by CEO Update magazine. Anderson, a Cornell College alumnus and former trustee, is only the third CEO to receive this honor.

“This award is one of the highest honors that can be given to an association executive since it has only been given to two other CEOs previously. Steve has a national reputation of building brand, clout, and revenue at the three associations he has led, and that is surely the case at NACDS,” said NACDS Chairman of the Board Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO and president of Hy-Vee, Inc.

 

The criteria for CEO of the Year include:

• effectiveness in presenting the industry or profession’s story;
• reputation for accomplishing the association’s mission;
• proven leadership in and outside the group;
• successful financial results; and
• demonstrated social capital through volunteer contributions to association-related, charitable or civic groups.

Anderson has served as president and CEO of NACDS since 2007. Previously, Anderson was president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association for eight years, and he held senior positions at the American Frozen Food Institute for 20 years, having served as president and CEO for 10 years. Anderson served for six years on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is the past chairman of the National Board of Trustees of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management, and he is a current member of the U.S. Chamber’s Public Affairs Committee, the U.S. Chamber’s Association Committee of 100, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Advisory Committee.

He served as a member of the American Society of Association Executives Board of Directors and is a member and past chairman of the American Society of Association Executives Key Industry Associations Committee.

Anderson is passionate about and committed to education. He serves on the Parents Councils of Wake Forest University and Elon University, and the Board of Trustees of Flint Hill School. Anderson was a Paul E. Wise Executive in Residence at the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. He has served on the Board of Trustees of Cornell College and the Advisory Board of Cornell’s Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy. Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell named Anderson to the board of trustees of America’s Promise-The Alliance for Youth, on which he served for eight years.