The CEO Roundtable on Cancer salutes Mike Krzyzewski, who on Saturday, February 13th will celebrate his 1000th game leading the Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team. Tomorrow afternoon’s game at 1 pm against the University of Maryland will mark an amazing achievement only seven other coaches in the history of the game have done at a single school. Beginning in 1980, Coach K’s career at Duke has been nothing short of incredible, including leading the school to 294 wins from 2000-09 – the most in the history of the game by any school in any decade.
Coach K has also been a tireless leader in the fight against cancer. He has been an honorary and charter Member of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer since its founding in 2001, when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to “do something bold and venturesome about cancer.”
When Coach K takes to the court that bears his name in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, he will also be wearing a gold pin on his right lapel as a very personal, public display of his commitment to the fight against cancer. At a meeting of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer in September, 2009, Coach K pledged to wear a pin representing the organization’s CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation program. The program recognizes the commitment of organizations that take concrete actions to reduce the cancer risk of employees and their families. Coach K has worn his Gold Standard pin at every game since.
“We are pleased to recognize Coach K for reaching this milestone and to thank him for his inspiration to all of us who are united in the fight against cancer,” said William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson and chair of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. “In terms of inspiring leadership, Mike Krzyzewski truly sets the gold standard.”
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer is a nonprofit organization of cancer-fighting CEOs who created the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, many of its designated cancer centers, and leading health non-profit organizations and professionals. Today, more than one million employees and family members are benefiting from the vision and leadership of employers who have chosen to become Gold Standard accredited.
To earn Gold Standard accreditation, a company must establish programs to reduce cancer risk by discouraging tobacco use; encouraging physical activity; promoting healthy diet and nutrition; detecting cancer at its earliest stages; and providing access to quality care, including participation in clinical trials. Organizations joining Coach K in championing this workplace-based effort to eliminate cancer as a public health threat include:
Aetna (NYSE: AET), Aldagen, the American Cancer Society’s National Home Office and Mid- South Division, the American Legacy Foundation, the American Society of Clincial Oncology, Aptuit, AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), C-Change, CIGNA (NYSE: CI), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Duke Medicine, Edelman, Enzon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENZN), Fox Chase Cancer Center, GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), Hogan & Hartson, Independence Blue Cross, Jenner & Block, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), The Lance Armstrong Foundation, LiDestri Foods, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, MDU Resources (NYSE: MDU), Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, Meridian Health, Minot State University, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, The National Cancer Institute, The Nevada Cancer Institute, Novartis (NYSE: NVS), The Oncology Nursing Society, OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), PhRMA, PPD (NASDAQ: PPDI), Pride, Inc., Quintiles Transnational, sanofi-aventis (NYSE: SNY), SAS Institute, Saint Barnabas Health Care System, State Farm, The University of North Dakota, US Oncology, Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX), Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Virtua Health, WCA Hospital, The Wistar Institute.