Awards of Courage

Jonathan S. Canno

Honoring with Pride 2004 Honoree

Jonathan S. Canno currently serves as a governing director of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and has been a board member since amfAR was established. He joined the board of amfAR’s predecessor, the AIDS Medical Foundation (AMF), in 1983 and served as its vice chairman. In 1985, he was named a founding director of amfAR, following the unification of the New York City–based AMF and the Los Angeles–based National AIDS Research Foundation.

Mr. Canno was instrumental in having amfAR named, in 1987, as the beneficiary of Art Against AIDS, a nationwide effort by hundreds of artists and galleries to raise AIDS awareness and to support AIDS research. To date, the extraordinary partnership formed by amfAR and the art community has raised more than $15 million for AIDS research. In 1998, he observed his fiftieth birthday by establishing the Jonathan S. Canno Research Fund with funds donated by family and friends, including his friends at amfAR. The Fund supports innovative AIDS vaccine research.

Shortly after his college graduation in 1970, Mr. Canno went to work as an executive vice president at the Equitable Bag Company, a family firm that was once the largest retail and flexible packaging company in the United States. He was chairman and chief executive officer in 1997 when he left to become the chief executive officer of Maidstone Associates, Ltd., a position he held through January 2001. He currently serves on the boards of Lenox Hill Hospital; Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital; and The Hamptons International Film Festival.