MSAA offers programs and services as a part of its mission to enrich the quality of life for everyone affected by multiple sclerosis.

Senior Management

Douglas G. Franklin
President & CEO
DOUGLAS G. FRANKLIN, President & Chief Executive Officer, joined MSAA as President & Chief Executive Officer in 1999 and has strategically guided its national outreach and corporate partnership support to unprecedented levels. Mr. Franklin is a former national trainer for the Drucker Foundation and is an internationally published expert in the field of social marketing who holds degrees from four universities. He currently serves on the national board of the Key Philanthropic Organizations Committee of the American Society of Association Executives and is a member of the Executive Committee of Health First — America's Charities Board in Washington, DC.

Robert Rapp
Vice President for Programs & Services
ROBERT RAPP, Vice President for Programs & Services, came to MSAA in August 1999 with an extensive background in organization management. He has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Illinois and has held numerous management positions in the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. Mr. Rapp has a Bachelor’s Degree in education and social sciences from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in New Jersey.

Gary Wallace, CPA
Vice President for Finance & Administration
GARY WALLACE, Vice President for Finance & Administration, is a Certified Public Accountant. He came to MSAA in April 1999 from Alliance Medical Management in Voorhees, New Jersey where he was controller. Prior to that, Mr. Wallace was Chief Financial Officer of Recovery Service of New Jersey in Mays Landing and Fiscal Officer for the Atlantic County Division of Welfare in Atlantic City.

Bruce Makous
Vice President for Developments
Bruce Makous, Vice President for Development at Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, has been a professional fundraiser for over twenty-five years. Mr. Makous joined MSAA in January 2007.He served as Major Gifts and Planned Giving Officer for the American Association for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, PA, since 2001. Previously, he was Assistant Vice President for Major and Planned Gifts with Drexel University, serving in Drexel's successful $200 million capital campaign. He serves as President of the Planned Giving Council Greater Philadelphia, and has served on the International Board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and as President of AFP's Greater Philadelphia Chapter. Mr. Makous is a speaker and published author on fundraising and arts management topics. He has a B.A. from Oberlin College, an M.A. in Arts Administration from New York University, and has been granted the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) status by the International CFRE Board.

Jack Burks, MD
Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
JACK BURKS, MD, is a neurologist who specializes in MS. He is the chief medical officer for MSAA and president of the Multiple Sclerosis Alliance. Additionally, Dr. Burks is a clinical professor of medicine in neurology at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, Nevada, and a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the National MS Society. He has edited two textbooks on MS, and in the 1970s, Dr. Burks established the Rocky Mountain MS Center in Colorado, one of the nation’s first comprehensive MS centers.