Cass Wheeler, former CEO of American Heart Association and a wonderful mentor, died

I was saddened to learn that on June 20, 2025, Cass Wheeler died, just short of his 85th birthday. Cass spent 35 years at the American Heart Association, serving as CEO from 1998 through 2008. I don’t remember when or how I first met Cass, but he became an important ally and mentor.

As the AHA said in its announcement of his passing, “His leadership marked a transformational era for the Heart Association, guiding the nonprofit into the 21st century and dramatically expanding its global influence in public health, cardiovascular science, fundraising and community engagement. … Wheeler was instrumental in sharpening the Association’s focus on public policy and advocacy, in the process helping secure landmark public health legislation across the country — including stronger tobacco control laws and improved nutrition labeling.”

As a mentor, he was always a calm voice, helping me stay focused on long-term goals and getting past organizational bumps in the road. For example, he often guided me in navigating the process of getting major national health organizations to sign off on Smokefree Movies “partner ads” in which major health organizations urged — with substantial success– motion picture leaders to get smoking out of youth-rated films.

Despite running a major national organization and serving on many national boards, he found time to serve on the UCSF Center for Tobacco Research and Education’s External Advisory Committee and was keynote speaker for our 2009 It’s About a Billion Lives symposium, where he spoke on “Staying Vigilant in a Time of Change” shortly before Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that gave the FDA jurisdiction over tobacco.

He wrote a wonderful book, You’ve Gotta Have Heart: Achieving Purpose Beyond Profit in the Social Sector, that provided many insights that I used, particularly to develop goals and engage faculty to build the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

Nancy Brown, who succeeded Cass as AHA CEO, said, “He believed deeply in the power of purpose, and he inspired generations of staff and volunteers to push beyond boundaries. I would not be where I am today without his guidance and belief in me. His legacy lives in the millions of lives touched by the work he helped build.”

I couldn’t have said it better.

AHA remembrance.