Alan Kligerman’s family has been in Atlantic City, NJ for more than 100 years. He attended local schools and worked in the family business, Kligerman Dairies, both as a boy on the routes and later as an adult. The dairy was started in 1918 and operated until about 1964. He studied dairy science at Cornell University. He left the dairy in 1957 to start his own ice cream routes which evolved over some years into a specialty business, SugarLo Company, which made and sold dietary ice cream in most of the U.S. and Canada.

In 1974 Mr. Kligerman started the business that was to become Lactaid Inc., now the world’s leading company in the field of lactose-reduced milk and dairy products. He invented a calcium-fortified milk that is still the largest seller in the U.S. Lactaid Inc. was purchased by Johnson & Johnson in 1991. Mr. Kligerman then developed Beano^®, an enzyme-based product for better digestion of numerous vegetables. This company is also the largest in its field and was sold to Block Drug Company in 1997. His present company, AkPharma Inc., makes and markets specialty products centered around food acid neutralization, including Prelief^®.

There are too many patents, article authorships and awards to be fully listed here but some of the highlights are: The 1987 IFT (Institute of Food Technologists) Industrial Achievement Award, the highest international prize in its category, and the Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree, presented by the Moscow State Academy of Food Processing in 1996, for his joint contributions to faculty study between the MSAFP and Cornell’s Institute of Food Science, where he was an advisor for six years. He has been both a governors’ and Presidential appointee to unpaid commissions. He is a frequent speaker on public interest issues and has been a visiting speaker in symposia in Moscow, Prague, London and many U.S. cities. He has met with Middle East government leaders on fact-finding and peace-seeking missions.

Alan Kligerman has been active locally as well, with a background that includes activity on the NAACP Board, Atlantic City and national Democratic politics, public interest lawsuits and various continuing sectarian, secular and cultural boards including a local art museum, the Anti-Defamation League, Americans for Peace Now and the Pennsylvania Ballet. He, his family and his business give significantly to a vast array of pro bono causes. He is 76 and married to the former Donna Battista, an accomplished musician. He has five grown children and nine grandchildren, and resides in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.