Alfred Putnam Jr. stepping down as Lankenau Medical Center Foundation Board Chair after 30 years

Wynnewood, PA — Since Alfred (Alfy) Putnam Jr. became Chair of the hospital’s philanthropic foundation 30 years ago, Lankenau Medical Center, part of Main Line Health, has undergone a dramatic transformation. The campus now features a 246,000-square-foot Heart Pavilion, part of a $500 million renovation completed in 2013 that helped establish the Lankenau Heart Institute as a premier cardiovascular facility. In 2020, the hospital also completed a $53 million Emergency Department expansion following the hospital becoming a trauma center.

Putnam, who joined the Lankenau Medical Center Foundation Board in 1988 and became its Chair in 1996, officially steps down from the role in September after a tenure highlighted by strategic and thoughtful Foundation Board and asset management, including high-impact capital and programmatic fundraising campaigns such as for the Heart Pavilion and Emergency Department expansion. He will be succeeded by Peter Havens, longtime Chair of the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) Board of Trustees, who has also served as Chair of the Lankenau Foundation Board’s Development and Investment Committees.

Jonathan Fox, MD, PhD, FACC, who has served on the LIMR Board for 25 years, will succeed Havens as Chairman.

Anna Michelle Brandt, President of Lankenau Medical Center, said Putnam will be greatly missed. “Leadership matters. It shapes what is possible,” she said. “And during Alfy’s time as Chair, Lankenau has seen extraordinary enhancements that have strengthened its role as one of the region’s premier hospitals. As much as we will miss Alfy, I’m thrilled to know that we will continue to benefit from his skills and expertise as an emeritus member and that he leaves this position in the finest of hands with Peter Havens, an outstanding leader for LIMR and the foundation for many years.”

Putnam’s legacy at Lankenau Medical Center stretches back generations. Alfy’s grandfather, Alfred Putnam Sr., served as the ninth president of Lankenau from 1949 to 1964.

Said Putnam: “As one would expect over 30 years, there’s been a lot of change. But what’s more important is what hasn’t changed. Lankenau and its physicians and staff remain committed to the highest quality of medicine and research and service to our community. This was so in my grandfather’s day, and it’s been true every day since. Some things change, but some things don’t.“

Putnam was also a member of the Main Line Health Board of Governors from 1993–2005. The trial and appellate litigator served as Chairman of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP from 2005–15 and remains with the firm (now Faegre Drinker) as Senior Counsel and Chairman Emeritus. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American Law Institute. He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania after receiving bachelor’s degrees from Harvard University and the University of Oxford.

Havens, with an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an MBA from Columbia, founded Baldwin Management in 1999 after serving as a member of the Board of Directors and executive vice president of the Bryn Mawr Trust Co. In addition to leading LIMR’s Board, he has served as a Lankenau Medical Center Foundation Trustee since 1998 and a member of the Main Line Health Board of Governors since 2009.

“For the last 16 years, I have had the honor of being Chairman of Lankenau Institute for Medical Research — a storied American research institute led by one of the leading cancer researchers, George Prendergast, PhD, in the United States,” Havens said. “I now look forward to a new role as the Chairman of the Lankenau Medical Center Foundation, which financially supports Lankenau Medical Center, one of this country’s leading hospitals, and LIMR. I follow the longest-serving Chairman of the Foundation, who has very ably led the Foundation’s Board for decades. I do so with excitement for the future and with gratitude for the trust that others have placed in me.”

Havens is a Trustee Emeritus at Ursinus College, Chairman Emeritus of the Board for the Independence Seaport Museum, former Trustee of the Leukemia Society of America, and a former board member of Main Line Health Realty and Lankenau Development Inc. He was also the Chairman of the Board of Petroferm, Inc., and a Board member of Nobel Learning Communities Inc.

He will be ably replaced in his LIMR Board Chair role by Dr. Fox.

“I am grateful for the years of partnership and collaboration with Peter, who has played a major role in steering LIMR to the forefront of biomedical research and entrepreneurship,” said Dr. Prendergast, President and CEO of LIMR. “Jonathan is a brilliant, insightful physician-scientist whose expertise and counsel have been invaluable over the years. I look forward to the leadership and advice that Jonathan will provide as our new Chair.”

“I am honored to have been elected Chairman of the LIMR Board of Trustees, having served as a trustee for over 25 years,” Dr. Fox said. “Over that interval I have observed the workings of the Board and the role of Chairman from both Peter Havens, whose dedication to LIMR has few parallels, and before him the legendary Eddie Jones. By their example, I feel well prepared to take on the Chairman’s role with support from Peter, George, the other members of the Board, and LIMR’s excellent management team.”

Dr. Fox serves as Therapeutic Area Head for Cardiovascular and Endocrinology at BridgeBio Pharma, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel, genetically targeted therapies. Prior to that, Dr. Fox served as the chief medical officer of MyoKardia, Inc. Additionally, he worked as a consultant at Nigel-Montgomery, LLC, and held various senior R&D positions successively at SmithKline Beecham, Merck Research Laboratories and AstraZeneca. He was also on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Fox serves on the boards of Edgewise Therapeutics and ML BioSolutions and is currently an adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University Cardiovascular Institute.

He received his AB in biology, PhD in experimental pathology and MD from the University of Chicago, and he completed his training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Duke University. Dr. Fox has been Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology.