WASHINGTON — The American Red Cross, stung by controversy over distribution of funds for victims of terrorism, named Marsha Johnson Evans, a retired Navy admiral, as its president Thursday.
The appointment comes months after the departure of Bernadine Healy, who said she was forced out by the charity's board in a dispute over policy.
Red Cross Chairman David McLaughlin said "the last nine months have been some of the most difficult" for the organization. "This is a turning point."
Evans declined to address specific issues until after she takes office Aug. 5 and has time to study the various challenges in detail.
But, she said, there is an "enormous reservoir of trust" for the Red Cross in America. "We have to continuously add to that trust account on a day-by-day basis."
Since Sept. 11, the agency has distributed about $600 million to 55,000 families who were directly affected by the attacks, according to Bob Chlopak, spokesman for the Red Cross. That includes families of those who were killed or injured in the attacks, as well as those who were affected economically and rescue and recovery workers.
Evans' appointment is open-ended but McLaughlin said the board wants her to remain at least five to seven years. The salary will be $450,000 annually, which he said is in the midrange for charitable organizations.
Evans comes to the job from the Girl Scouts, where she has been executive director since 1998. Evans completed a 29-year career in the Navy in 1997, retiring as a rear admiral.
In the Navy, Evans gained experience in managing large operations, running the Navy Recruiting Command from 1993-1995. Later, she was chief executive of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
Evans grew up in Springfield, Ill., and joined the Navy after graduating from Occidental College in Los Angeles.
The Red Cross drew severe criticism, both from the public and in Congress, when it was revealed that the charity planned to set aside for other uses some of the money from its Liberty Fund for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The organization was forced to change course in November and declare that all the money would go to the terror victims and their families.
"We learned hard lessons from that fund," McLaughlin said at the time.
Also at that November news conference, Red Cross interim chief executive officer Harold Decker, who took over for Healy, apologized for what he called "a failure in communications between the American Red Cross and the American public."
In announcing her departure, Healy said the board had given her no choice.
Another dispute involved differences over how the American Red Cross should handle the Israeli branch's exclusion from full membership in the global Red Cross movement. Healy supported withholding administrative dues from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
