Robert A. Vitas, Ph.D., CAE, CFRE serves as Executive Director of the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation. He has worked in nonprofits and foundations most of his professional life, including directing Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children: The Foundation of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Vitas was also regional training and development manager for Eastman Kodak’s photofinishing subsidiary, with responsibility for technical, production, and management training in the Northern United States and Canada.
A Certified Association Executive and Certified Fund Raising Executive, he has served on several nonprofit boards. He is President of the Dental Philanthropy Network, serves on the Board of the Association Foundation Group and the Political Action Committee of the American Society of Association Executives.
He chaired the Association Forum of Chicagoland’s CAE Working Group, Professional Practices Committee, and Foundation & Development Shared Interest Group, and was a member of the Editorial Content Working Group and the Awards & Recognition Committee.
Dr. Vitas earned his Ph.D. in political science at Loyola University of Chicago and served as a Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University from 1995 until 2010. He has published four books and over two dozen scholarly articles, chapters, and reviews. He served as an enlisted man and commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve.