User:Neve.chen/David Kekich

David Alan Kekich is an American human longevity advocate and author. In 1999, Kekich founded Maximum Life Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation dedicated to reversing human aging and aging related diseases. He currently serves as its CEO.

In 2012, Kekich authored Smart, Strong and Sexy at 100?, which he describes as "a how-to book for extreme life extension."

Kekich was featured in several life extension documentaries, webinars, and television and radio shows, has given numerous lectures on the topic. He was also featured in newspaper and magazine articles and publishes a weekly online newsletter, Longevity News Digest.

____________ Contents

Personal life, education

Career

Maximum Life Foundation

Books

References

External links

Personal life, education

Born on May 28, 1943, Kekich was raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his father Herman, mother Anne and older sister Carol. His Serbian father emigrated from Croatia at the age of six, worked for most of his adult life for Bethlehem Steel Corp. from which he finally retired. His mother was born Anne Uzelac in Chicago, Illinois. Kekich graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. He studied under Dr. Andrew Galambos at the Free Enterprise Institute from 1976 to 1978 and credits Dr. Galambos’ influence for shaping much of his life.link (sss p.264) In 1978, Kekich suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury. He spent years raising money for paralysis research. Eventually, he concluded that a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries would benefit about 150,000 Americans, but a cure for aging would benefit 300 million(sss p.7). He also thought that aging would not be much harder to solve than paralysis and that several of the technologies overlap(sss p.7). So he switched his focus to aging in 1998. On June 30, 2001, he married Dr. Kathleen Cotter. They divorced two years later. Career

After graduation from college, he served in the US Army National Guard and the Air Force Reserves. He was employed by Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company in Charleston, West Virginia until he relocated to Southern California in 1968. His career ranged from door-to-door sales to real estate and finance until 1976. Then he entered the life insurance business.

Kekich first became intrigued with extreme life extension in 1977 after founding Exceptional Producers, Inc. It raised $3.1 billion of premium income for First Executive Corp. This was where he was widely exposed to the realities of death from aging. Years later, he arranged venture capital funding for small private companies for eleven years. This was where he acquired the fundraising experience that he now directs toward bio-tech and other life-extending technologies. He claims to have “... realized the inevitability that science will someday control the human aging process...”(sss p.38) and that he understood that “... human beings will someday be able to enjoy very long health spans by studying aging, the root cause of most deadly diseases.”(sss p.15) In his point of view, “the problem... (was, that)... he was in a race against the clock. He was faced with the possibility of being part of the “last generation” to suffer and die from aging related diseases.” (sss p.237) His solution was to further aging research and move it forward by establishing Maximum Life Foundation. [the following paragraph is a duplicate. before posting, replace this with the revised version above:] Since then, the Foundation, in concert with many of the world’s leading researchers and thought leaders who serve on its various boards link, link, link -- Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Grey (PLEASE NOTE: the picture on this page is NOT Dave Kekich, it is Aubrey de Grey), Anthony Atala, Michael Rose, Robert Freitas, and others -- has developed a scientific road-map to transform the elderly to biologically young, healthy people.

He served as CEO of Maximum Life Foundation since 1999, Chairman of Stem Cell Products, LLC since 2006. He is currently active in raising funds for aging research.

Maximum Life Foundation

In 1999, Kekich founded Maximum Life Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation dedicated to reversing human aging and aging related diseases. He currently serves as its CEO.

The Foundation, in concert with many of the world’s leading researchers and thought leaders who serve on its various boards link, link, link -- Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Grey, Anthony Atala, Michael R. Rose, Robert Freitas, and others -- has developed a scientific road-map to transform the elderly to biologically young, healthy people. Kekich researches companies with proprietary stem cell (and other) technologies which target longevity. He currently raises funds for life-extending research. He serves as a Board Member of the American Aging Association, Life Extension Buyers’ Club and Alcor Life Extension Foundation Patient Care Trust Fund.

Books

In 2012, Kekich authored ''Smart, Strong and Sexy at 100?: New skin. New hair. New you… 7 simple steps to thrive at 100… and beyond'', which he describes as "a how-to book for extreme life extension."

Recorded public appearances Kekich was predominantly featured in two life extension documentarieslink link(time 23:22?), link (ad. time? delete?) as well as featured in others. Kekich is considered a popular lecturer and spoke to thousands of people on the topic. He has appeared on numerous television and radio shows link link link and on many webinars.link link link  He was also featured in newspaper and magazine articles and publishes a widely read newsletter, Longevity News Digest.

References

External links