Thomas O. Ryder joins Focused Ultrasound Foundation board

Ryder was CEO and Chairman of Reader's Digest

Published March 4, 2022 by Robyn Sidersky

Thomas O. Ryder, former CEO and chairman of White Plains, New York-based Reader’s Digest Association Inc., has been elected to the board of the Charlottesville-based Focused Ultrasound Foundation.

Ryder has served on Amazon.com Inc.’s board for two decades. He worked for Time Inc., CBS and Education Today Co. Inc., where he was a co-founder and CEO.

But serving on this board is more personal to Ryder, an essential tremor patient who underwent focused ultrasound therapy in 2021.

Focused ultrasound provides energy to treat tissue deep in the body precisely and noninvasively to combat tremors, according to the foundation.

“Focused ultrasound fixed a major problem I had with essential tremor and changed my life,” Ryder said in a statement. “I truly hope my tenure on the foundation board of directors will give me the opportunity to share that miracle with others in similar need.”

Ryder was elected at the foundation’s March 1 meeting.

“Tom brings his unsurpassed skills and experience to the foundation’s leadership team,” said Chairman Neal F. Kassell. “He will help to facilitate our efforts to overcome barriers and take advantage of opportunities to shorten the time for focused ultrasound to become a global standard of care.”

The organization was created to improve the lives of millions of people with serious medical disorders by accelerating the development and adoption of the noninvasive technology.

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