Don Maison will be stepping down from his position as president and CEO of AIDS Services of Dallas effective Feb. 1, 2019, according to a post the agency made to its Facebook page at about 6 p.m. today (Thursday, Nov. 29).

Traswell Livingston III, the agency’s current chief operating officer, will service as interim CEO, and Board Chair Sam Etheridge is forming a search committee to find a new president and CEO .

AIDS Services of Dallas was founded as the PWA Coalition of Dallas on April 28, 1987, to provide housing for people with AIDS. The newly-formed agency retained Maison as its lawyer that May. Maison was hired on in the position then known as executive director and which is now president and CEO, on Dec. 1, 1988, and has led the organization ever since.

The dba AIDS Services of Dallas was formed in May 1989.

In the statement posted to Facebook, Livingston lauded Maison as “a legend in the field” with whom “I feel blessed to have worked … for so many years.” Etheridge added that Maison has, over the last 32 years, “earned a national reputation” and has “impacted the lives of thousands. … he deserves the admiration of us all.”

Maison himself said he will “always be grateful for the role I played in making this organization as vibrant and strong as what it has become in our community. Nothing I’ve accomplished could have been done without a highly competent and dedicated staff. We do very important work in our community, and it must continue.”