IMA President Paul Derstine Announces Retirement
New Windsor, MD, February 08, 2009 — Paul Derstine, president and chief executive officer of IMA World Health for 17 years, has announced his decision to retire late in 2009. During his tenure, IMA has grown from a small non-profit distributor of donated medical products to an internationally recognized leader in the global health care arena.
“Paul has provided outstanding leadership to IMA. A man of great character, he has been a forward-looking, dedicated, accessible servant-leader who has brought growth to IMA on many levels,” stated Dr. Donald L. Parker, chair of the IMA board of directors. “We have been truly blessed to have Paul as our president. Though his daily leadership will be missed, we hope he can enjoy a wonderful retirement, which he has so richly earned.”
Working closely with the IMA board of directors, Derstine has helped assemble a transition team to identify his successor and to ensure that the organization continues to manage its rapid growth in a responsible, sustainable manner during the transition and beyond.
“This doesn’t change the fact that we are losing Paul Derstine,” said IMA board member and former chair Dr. Phyllis Ensor. “Paul has been an exceptional leader with extraordinary intelligence, vision, heart and grace. However, we are developing our transition strategies and are confident we can use this time to further IMA’s mission and reach.”
Derstine will continue to be available to support IMA’s work as requested. “IMA will forever be dear to me,” he said. “Much more than just a job, my tenure at IMA was a calling, and the organization will remain very close to my heart.”
Derstine was born and grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and took his undergraduate studies in accounting and sociology at Temple University in Philadelphia and at Goshen College in Indiana. He completed graduate studies in international development at the University of Missouri.
