Steven Anderson, NACDS

Steven C. Anderson will retire on December 31 after 20 years as president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. In that role, he has served as the industry’s chief spokesperson for an industry with more than $1 trillion in annual sales and more than 3.2 million employees. He has also chaired the NACDS Foundation, which supports pharmacy research and education.

Looking back, Anderson is most proud of “NACDS building a sustainable infrastructure of progress for the association and for pharmacy.” He credits a single, consistent message: “Pharmacies are the face of neighborhood healthcare.” Many members of Congress once didn’t see pharmacies as healthcare destinations. “They get it now,” he says.

That infrastructure has delivered results: the most significant federal PBM reforms in history, enacted this year; hundreds of state-level PBM reform laws; and progress on expanding pharmacist-provided services for seniors in Medicare. “We built all of that together, and it is a foundation the whole industry can build on.”

Anderson received the ASAE Key Award in 2026, the association profession’s highest individual honor, and NACDS’ Sheldon W. Fantle Lifetime Achievement Award. Mass Market Retailers has named him one of retail’s 50 Most Influential People for 19 consecutive years.

Before joining NACDS, Anderson led the National Restaurant Association for eight years and the American Frozen Food Institute for 10. A Cornell College graduate, he also ran for Congress in Illinois and served as a senior congressional staff member.

As he departs, he’s excited about NACDS’ new strategic framework: a member-built direction for shaping the future of pharmacy and strengthening member ROI. “That’s the through-line. Everything NACDS has built over 20 years feeds into what comes next.”