Bob McLean

For more than two decades Bob McLean was involved in the nonprofit community, first working for an association then founding and directing his own association management company, REM Association Services. REM managed numerous trade associations, professional societies, and a foundation. 

McLean received a BA in Journalism from the University of Memphis (located in his home town) and an MA in English from George Mason University, where he also served as an adjunct professor. Later he completed the requirements to become a certified association executive (CAE) a designation he maintained for many years.

McLean spent much of his life in the Washington, DC, area, and now maintains residences in Arlington and Norfolk, VA. Both before and after his retirement in 2017, he has travelled extensively outside the US. He received a BA degree in Spanish from Spanish, which he has put to use in volunteer work in the Hampton Roads area of southeast Virginia. 

McLean and his husband split their time between Norfolk, Virginia, which is near the Chesapeake Bay, and Arlington, Virginia, close to Washington, DC.

For nearly eight years McLean has been a Nichiren Buddhist and a member of Soka Gakkai International-USA. SGI-USA is a secular organization and the most diverse Buddhist community in the United States, with more than 500 chapters and some 100 centers throughout the country. SGI-USA is part of the larger SGI network, which comprises more than 12 million people in 192 countries and territories around the world. SGI members base their practice on the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Buddhism, which teaches that each person has within the courage, wisdom and compassion to face and surmount any of life’s challenges. Based on core Buddhist principles such as respecting the dignity of human life and the interconnectedness of self and the environment, SGI engages in various peace activities, including human rights education, the movement to abolish nuclear weapons and efforts to promote sustainable development.