MDA LEADER, BUSINESSMAN AND ADVOCATE
MICHAEL BEIER DIES

TUCSON, Ariz., April 25, 2003 – New York businessman turned ALS advocate Michael Patrick Beier died today in New York City of complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 39.

A native New Yorker who grew up in the Long Island town of Massapequa, Beier had a successful career on Wall Street for almost two decades. For 10 years, he was director of equity trading for Credit Suisse First Boston. Beier also served as a national vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“Michael Beier’s words and actions spoke loudly for people who are affected by ALS, and he truly made a difference,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “MDA mourns the loss of this talented young man, who was not only an amazing leader, but a tremendous person, friend, father and husband.”

Beier’s career and family life were interrupted in December 2000 when he received a diagnosis of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, but he soon found a way to channel his frustrations about the disease into raising money for research and awareness.

He became involved with MDA’s Wings of Hope, a New York City gala to benefit MDA’s ALS research program, rallying the support of his colleagues and friends from the financial world. After the 2001 event raised an unprecedented $650,000, Beier became chairman of the 2002 event, which changed its name to MDA’s Wings Over Wall Street.

Beier, who once described himself as someone who “could talk the ears off a brass monkey,” used his gift for gab and business connections to organize the gala. The 2002 MDA event, which 1,700 people attended, drew immeasurable support from the Wall Street community and top celebrities. It raised almost $2 million.

In the program for the October 2001 event, Beier wrote, “I often feel more fortunate than others affected by this disease since I can presently walk, talk and breathe on my own. However, without a cure, I know my limbs, speech and breath will ultimately fail. ALS is a disease that has made me angry — angry at the ways it affects me, the thousands of others diagnosed, and all of our loved ones.”

Beier’s ALS advocacy also included work with grassroots organizations and involvement with research institutions seeking a treatment or cure for ALS.

Beier’s efforts earned him MDA’s 2002 Personal Achievement Award for the New York Metro area. He was a member of the Board of the ALS Committee at Columbia University, and served on the Board of Governors at the ALS Research Center at Johns Hopkins University.

In December 2002, an ALS research fund at Columbia was named in honor of Beier’s efforts. Called the Michael Beier/MDA Wings Over Wall Street ALS Research Fund, it’s administered through the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center at New York’s Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.

Beier is survived by his wife, Theresa, daughter Carly, 6, and son Dustin, 4.

ALS is one of more than 40 diseases covered by the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The progressive disease attacks muscle-controlling nerve cells in the spinal cord, often leading to paralysis and respiratory failure within three to five years of diagnosis.

For more information about MDA’s ALS Division, click here.