BACKGROUND
A 1975 graduate of Juniata College, Howard Nathan is recognized as one of the world s leading authorities on organ donation and transplantation. Nathan joined Gift of Life Donor Program in 1978 and has served as President and CEO since 1984. Under his leadership, he has grown Gift of Life to be the largest organ procurement organization (OPO) in the U.S., responsible for coordinating the most life-saving organ donations every year for the past 13 years. He is the longest-serving CEO of any OPO in the U.S.
In 2004, Nathan founded Gift of Life Institute, an international training center for organ and tissue donation professionals, offering comprehensive, interdisciplinary resources to increase donation outcomes, including skills-based learning, continuing education, collaborative research, and consulting services.
Sarah Reesey rests her head against her 5-year-old sonâs chest and hears a heartbeat.
âItâs not the heart he was born with,â she knows. But she believes itâs âthe heart of an angel.â
Zachary was 4 when he underwent heart transplant surgery. It was the culmination of a yearlong journey that involved myriad doctors at multiple hospitals and Gift of Life, the organization that connects organ donors with patients who need them.
Reesey, a nurse at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health who lives in Delta, York County, already knew about the donor program, but sheâs incredulous at the team that worked to ensure her son had this transplant âto give him a second chance, even during a pandemic.â