SAG-AFTRA’s Associate National Executive Director Mathis Dunn retired at the end of March after 46 years of distinguished union service.
Dunn began his journey with the union at AFTRA as contract administrator in the Twin Cities Local, and became the local’s assistant executive director. In 1985, he was promoted to executive secretary of AFTRA’s Seattle Local.
He was appointed national representative in 1989, and in that role he negotiated broadcast contracts nationwide.Over the years, he worked on the multiple attempts to merge SAG and AFTRA, until the successful referendum in 2012. Post-merger, he became SAG-AFTRA associate national executive director, and was a key member of the team that merged the SAG and AFTRA health plans, as well as the SAG
and AFTRA foundations.
In 2015, during the SAG-AFTRA national convention, he received the George Heller Memorial Award, one of the union’s highest honors, bestowed for exceptional service to members. In accepting the award, he stated, “... I am so deeply moved and honored to stand before this group and say, ‘Thank you very much for my career.’” Dunn was a well-liked presence at the union, and while he will be missed by colleagues at work, we wish him well in his retirement and congratulate him on this new chapter in his life. The union is grateful for his decades of dedicated service.
This item originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA summer 2024 magazine issue.