Hazelden Names New Board Chair

CENTER CITY, Minn., June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Illinois Judge Susan Fox Gillis has been named chair of the Hazelden Foundation Board of Trustees. Hazelden is one of the world's largest and most respected nonprofit addiction treatment centers.

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Fox Gillis accepted the position of chair at the Foundation's annual Board meeting June 6^th on Hazelden's Center City, Minnesota, campus. She has served on the Hazelden Board of Trustees since 2008, and is an Associate Judge in the County Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Hazelden president and CEO Mark G. Mishek called Fox Gillis a "brilliant visionary" who is ideally suited to set the direction for Hazelden's continued forward momentum. "We are extremely fortunate to have Susan at the helm of our Board of Trustees," says Mishek. "She has been a hard-working leader as a member of the Board, and she is strongly committed to our mission of helping restore hope, healing and health to people affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs."

"Susan Fox Gillis has the wide breadth of experience and knowledge we need to take us forward into the future," said Mishek. "She is very passionate about Twelve Step recovery and an excellent advocate for our vision that all who seek recovery will find it."

Mishek, too, praised the outstanding leadership of outgoing Board Chair Paul Gossling, who will now serve as vice chair of the Hazelden Board. He credited Gossling, a Connecticut businessman, as well as his predecessor Rev. Michael J. O'Connell, with shepherding the organization to strong growth and ushering in innovative initiatives. He cited as examples the launching of a major new treatment protocol to address the opioid addiction epidemic, expanding Hazelden's youth continuum and its facility in Plymouth, opening new outpatient programming in Chaska, Minnesota, growing in Oregon with a new facility in Beaverton, and transitioning Hazelden's publishing division through acquisitions to a greater emphasis on electronic products and services.

Judge Fox Gillis currently sits in the County Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, hearing cases involving real estate tax issues, election matters, mental health commitment hearings and adoptions. Judge Gillis was first elected to the bench in 1999, and was retained in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Judge Fox Gillis has held leadership positions in numerous organizations, and has been president of the following boards: National Association of Women Lawyers, Women's Bar Association of Illinois, Grateful House, WayBack Inn, and Our Children in the Courts Foundation. She has also served on the boards of CARPLS, a legal aid organization, and the Chicago Bar Association and the Women Everywhere Board. She has been honored by IIT Chicago Kent College of Law as a young alumna, and has received the John Powers Crowley Award from The Lawyers Assistance Program and has also received the Golden Gavel Award from CARPLS.

About Hazelden

Hazelden, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1949, helps people reclaim their lives from the disease of addiction. Built on decades of knowledge and experience, Hazelden offers a comprehensive approach to addiction that addresses the full range of patient, family, and professional needs, including substance abuse treatment and continuing care for youth and adults, research, higher education, public education and advocacy and publishing. It currently has facilities in Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, New York and Florida. Learn more at www.hazelden.org.

SOURCE Hazelden Foundation