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A tobacco company executive has resigned from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Board of Trustees after questions were raised about his appointment. The Boston Globe reported Bennett LeBow stepped down Monday, after the newspaper inquired about the appointment. His decision to resign came just weeks after his appointment. LeBow is the chairman and chief executive of Miami-based Vector Group Ltd., the nation's fifth-largest cigarette maker. When he was named to the board on Jan. 25, it was announced in Dana Farber's newsletter late last month, and no mention was made of his lengthy career in the tobacco industry. … But anti-tobacco activists say the appointment of a tobacco executive to the board was inconsistent with the Dana-Farber's mission, given the link between tobacco use and cancer. "He still very much in the cigarette business, selling carcinogenic and deadly products," said Northeastern University law professor Richard Daynard, president of the Tobacco Control Resources Center. "It's troubling for a leading cancer center to put on the board somebody whose bread and butter involves causing cancer." Dana-Farber's 157 trustees are volunteers who help shape policy and guide business decisions for the institute, as well as assist in fund-raising. LeBow has made gifts to Dana-Farber to fund multiple myeloma research, though the institute would not say how much he has contributed. Trustees are typically business leaders, philanthropists, former patients, cancer advocates, and community leaders. They serve three-year terms and meet as a full board several times a year.
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