Our Leadership
W. Howie Walz
Mid-America Division Vice President
W. Howie Walz joined the American Red Cross in 2002 after a successful 20-year career leading non-Red Cross blood and biological organizations. He held the position of chief executive officer of the Red Cross Lewis and Clark Blood Services Region for three years prior to becoming the vice president of the Mid-America Blood Services Division in 2005. As vice president, Walz is responsible for management and oversight of the Divisions’ eight Red Cross Blood Services Regions, which span the central United States from Texas to Minnesota. The Division collects more than 1 million red cell and 200,000 platelet donations annually, and serves more than 500 hospitals and transfusion centers.
Patricia Quinn
Chief Executive Officer
Patricia Quinn is Chief Executive Officer of the Midwest Region of the American Red Cross Blood Services that is headquartered in Omaha.
Quinn, who officially started on October 6th, 2008, brought more than two decades of industry-related experience to the position. She came to the Red Cross from Caridian BCT (formerly Gambro). In her role as Senior Sales Consultant, she gained valuable experience consulting with hospital customers and administrators at the executive level.
She has also worked as the manager of blood collections at The Blood Center of Southeast Wisconsin, where she became intimately acquainted with the day-to-day operations of blood banking.
Quinn, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, resides in Omaha. A mother of two, she is an avid photographer and loves to golf.
Joan Cannon
Board Chair
Joan Cannon has been a member of the American Red Cross Midwest Blood Services Region Board of Directors since 2009. She was named board chair in January 2012. She previously served as vice chair.
Cannon is an attorney specializing in employee benefits at Koley Jessen P.C. where she is a shareholder. Cannon, who is a native of Columbus, Neb., holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and a law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Cannon is a member of the American Bar Association, Nebraska Bar Association, Omaha Bar Association, Pension Council of the Midlands, Employee Stock Ownership Plan Association and Association of Governmental Risk Pools. She was selected by her peers for inclusion in “Best Lawyers in America” for her work in employee benefits (ERISA) law.
In addition to her work with the Midwest Blood Services Region, Cannon has served on the American Red Cross Heartland Chapter Board of Directors since 2005.
David C. Mair, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Mair provides medical and scientific oversight to the Reference and Neutrophil Laboratories in the North Central Region and serves as an assistant medical director of the transfusion service and the therapeutic apheresis departments at the University of Minnesota Medical Center-Fairview in Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Veteran’s Hospital. Dr. Mair is a published transfusion-medicine expert and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for Immunohematology, Journal of Clinical Apheresis, Transfusion, and Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine publications.
Ramakrishna (Ram) Reddy, M.D.
Medical Director
Dr. Reddy is board certified in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine along with Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. He provides medical supervision for the Regions’ whole blood and apheresis programs, and therapeutic services. Dr. Reddy has more than 20 years of experience in blood banking and serves as an inspector for AABB, FACT and CAP. He is a member of many professional organizations and serves on the board for the International Society for Apheresis and the editorial board for Therapeutic Apheresis and Dialysis. He is also a member of the Transfusion Committee at The Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Reddy is also a published expert in transfusion medicine.
Lisa Nichol Tyler, M.D.
Assistant Medical Director
Dr. Lisa Nichol Tyler received her M.D. from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where she also did her residency and fellowship training in pathology, cytology and transfusion medicine. Most recently Dr. Tyler served as the transfusion services medical director for Creighton University Medical Center and the VA Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. and was the laboratory director for two area outpatient clinics. Dr. Tyler is an active member of AABB and the College of American Pathologists among other established associations. Her teaching and research accomplishments are numerous, and are focused on various blood banking and transfusion medicine topics.
