Sam P. Giordano,
MBA, RRT, FAARC
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

For more than 20 years, Sam Giordano has been at the helm of the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC). A Fellow of the AARC, Mr. Giordano is also the publisher of AARC Times, the news magazine for members of the AARC, and RESPIRATORY CARE, its scientific journal.

Mr. Giordano graduated from Park College in Kansas City, Missouri with a B.A. in Health Services Administration and earned his MBA from the University of Dallas. He is also a Registered Respiratory Therapist and has worked both as a clinical Respiratory Therapist and Director of Respiratory Services at various hospitals, including Cook County Hospital in Chicago and Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

Throughout his career, Mr. Giordano has served various government, association and consumer advocate groups. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the Allergy & Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics, Chairman of the National Commission on Allied Health Implementation Task Force and Commissioner for the National Commission on Allied Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources & Services Administration. Last year, Mr. Giordano served as a member of the faculty to the first-ever U.S. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Coalition Conference. His leadership in bringing to the attention of government groups and the general public this fourth leading cause of death has resulted in government interest in developing more programs to help prevent this disease.

Mr. Giordano has researched staffing issues in respiratory care and has published articles on those issues and others, including emerging practices for respiratory care, reimbursement for respiratory services in all care settings including pulmonary rehabilitation and home care and the future of respiratory care.

Ray Masferrer,
RRT, FAARC
Associate Executive Director

Beginning his career at the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) more than 20 years ago, Ray Masferrer is Associate Executive Director. Mr. Masferrer became a Registered Respiratory Therapist in 1963 and served as the Director of Respiratory Therapy and Pulmonary Physiology at Parkland Hospital and University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, in Dallas, Texas prior to his tenure at AARC.

A graduate of the University of Dallas in history, Mr. Masferrer has contributed to the development of the respiratory care profession in many ways. As the Managing Editor of RESPIRATORY CARE, the science journal for the respiratory care profession, he led the Journal to Index Medicus at the National Library of Medicine in 1999. Under his tutelage, the Association has developed venues to bring the scientific developments of the profession to the forefront. These venues include the International Respiratory Congress, a high-turnout annual event that offers continuing education opportunities for respiratory therapists and other health professionals; the annual Open Forum, held during the Congress, which features original research abstracts from international respiratory researchers and scientists; and State of the Art Journal Conferences, these consensus-building conferences bring together experts in all areas of respiratory care. In addition, he has initiated several career-building courses in disease state management, assessment and treatment.

Mr. Masferrer speaks fluent Spanish and did the voice-over for the Association’s membership recruitment video, “The Magic of Membership.”

Sherry Milligan,
MBA, CAE
Associate Executive Director

Sherry Milligan began her career at the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) as editor of AARC Times, the news magazine for AARC members. Working her way up through the ranks to Associate Executive Director, she now oversees Membership Services, which includes the Publications, Public Relations, Marketing and Customer Services departments.

A graduate of Youngstown State University, in Ohio, Ms. Milligan also has an MBA in Business Management from the University of Dallas. She holds the Certified Association Executive credential from the American Society of Association Executives, and has been an active member of the local Dallas/Fort Worth Association Executives, serving as a board member and Treasurer.

Her extensive knowledge of association management makes her an integral part of AARC’s leadership team. Under Ms. Milligan’s leadership, the Association has developed leading-edge membership services and serves as the premier membership association for the respiratory care profession. In addition, she has been instrumental in developing a customer service team, membership (www.AARC.org) and patient education (www.YourLungHealth.org) web sites with e-commerce capabilities, strategic member communications, public relations and marketing initiatives and a full array of membership communications and benefits.