Align Technology Names Kevin Conroy Board Chairman as Longtime Chair Ray Larkin Begins Leadership Transition
Align Technology, Inc., the global medical device company best known for its Invisalign clear aligner system and broader portfolio of digital dentistry technologies, has announced a significant transition in its board leadership as longtime Chairman C. Raymond Larkin, Jr. prepares to step down from the role after more than two decades of service on the company’s Board of Directors. The move marks the end of a lengthy chapter in Align Technology governance history and ushers in a new phase for the company as Kevin Conroy is set to assume the role of Chairman effective July 1, 2026.
The leadership change comes at an important time for Align Technology, a company that has evolved from an orthodontic innovator into one of the most influential players in digital dentistry worldwide. Over the years, Align Technology has built its reputation through products such as the Invisalign System of clear aligners, the iTero intraoral scanner platform, and exocad CAD/CAM software, technologies that collectively support a more digital, connected approach to orthodontics and restorative dentistry. As the company continues to pursue long-term growth in these markets, the board transition is designed to provide continuity while also bringing in a new chairman with substantial healthcare, strategic, and board leadership experience.
Under the announced plan, Larkin will officially retire from the role of Chairman on July 1, 2026. However, his departure from the chairmanship does not mean an immediate exit from the company’s boardroom.Align Technology said Larkin will remain on the Board of Directors and continue serving as a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee through December 31, 2026. That extended role is intended to support a smooth transition of responsibilities and help ensure that institutional knowledge and strategic continuity are preserved during the handover to Conroy.
End of an Era for a Longstanding Align Board Leader
Larkin’s transition out of the chairman role represents a notable milestone for Align because his tenure spans a period of extraordinary transformation for the company. Over more than 20 years on the board, he has been involved in some of the most defining stages of Align’s corporate development, including periods of product expansion, market growth, technological innovation, and increasing global scale.
When Larkin joined Align Technology’s board, the company was still in a much earlier phase of its evolution. Since then, Align has expanded far beyond its origins as a clear aligner company and has become a major force in digital orthodontics and restorative dental technology. Throughout that journey, board leadership has played a critical role in shaping corporate strategy, overseeing governance, supporting executive management, and helping the company navigate a fast-changing competitive and regulatory environment.
In announcing the transition, Align Technology President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan credited Larkin with being a central figure in the company’s growth and maturation. Hogan described Larkin’s contributions as instrumental to Align’s progress through multiple stages of innovation and scale, emphasizing his strategic perspective, healthcare expertise, and commitment to strong governance. Those comments reflect the significance of the chairman’s role not just as a formal board position, but as a long-term steward of the company’s strategic direction.
Larkin’s tenure has coincided with the rapid rise of digital dentistry as both a clinical and commercial category. Align Technology’s products have become deeply embedded in that shift. Invisalign transformed the orthodontic market by popularizing clear aligner therapy as an alternative to traditional braces for many patients. iTero scanners helped accelerate the move away from conventional dental impressions toward digital workflows. exocad software broadened Align’s reach into digital restorative and laboratory solutions. The board’s oversight during this period would have included not only financial and governance responsibilities, but also strategic decisions around acquisitions, product investments, geographic expansion, and market positioning.
A Transition Designed Around Continuity and Stability
Rather than making an abrupt break, Align Technology is structuring the transition to allow for overlap between outgoing and incoming leadership. Larkin will continue serving on the board through the end of 2026 and remain active on the Nominating and Governance Committee. That arrangement gives the company several additional months in which the outgoing chairman can support Conroy, offer historical context, and help maintain continuity in governance matters.
This type of phased transition is often used by public companies when a long-serving board leader steps aside after an extended tenure. It reduces the risk of disruption, preserves access to institutional memory, and gives the incoming chairman time to settle into the role with the benefit of direct support from his predecessor. For Align, the decision suggests a deliberate approach to succession planning rather than a sudden leadership change.
From a governance perspective, that continuity may be especially valuable because Align Technology is operating in a dynamic healthcare technology market where long-term strategy matters. The company must balance innovation in orthodontics and digital dentistry with the realities of global competition, reimbursement considerations, evolving clinical preferences, and broader macroeconomic pressures that can affect consumer demand for elective dental procedures. A stable board transition can help reassure investors, employees, and partners that the company’s oversight structure remains strong even as leadership changes hands.
Kevin Conroy to Take the Chairmanship
Succeeding Larkin as Chairman will be Kevin Conroy, an independent director who joined Align Technology’s Board in December 2023 and has served as Chair of the Compensation and Human Capital Committee since January 2026. His appointment takes effect July 1, 2026, positioning him to lead the board as Align enters its next chapter of growth and strategic development.
Conroy brings a profile that Align Technology clearly sees as highly relevant to its future. According to the company, he offers extensive board leadership experience along with a strong record in healthcare, strategy, and value creation. Most notably, he recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Exact Sciences prior to its acquisition by Abbott Laboratories in March 2026. That background gives him direct experience leading a healthcare company through growth, innovation, and ultimately a transformative corporate transaction.
For Align Technology, Conroy’s appointment appears to reflect a desire to pair continuity with fresh perspective. He is not an outsider parachuting into the board without context; he has already been serving as an independent director and committee chair. At the same time, he is relatively new compared with Larkin’s two-decade tenure, which means he can bring a more current external lens shaped by his recent operating and strategic experience in healthcare.
Joe Hogan said the board is pleased to welcome Conroy as its next chairman, highlighting his track record of creating stockholder value and his expertise in healthcare, technology, and strategy. Those themes are particularly important for Align Technology because the company sits at the intersection of all three. It is a healthcare business serving orthodontists, dentists, and patients; a technology business built around digital treatment planning, scanning, and software; and a consumer-facing brand with global scale. A chairman who understands how to navigate those overlapping dimensions could play a meaningful role in shaping the company’s long-term priorities.
What the Leadership Shift Could Mean for Align’s Next Phase
The appointment of a new chairman always invites questions about strategic direction, even when the transition is framed as orderly and collaborative. In Align Technology’s case, there is no indication that the leadership change reflects a dramatic pivot in strategy. Instead, the messaging from management and the board suggests that the transition is intended to support continued execution of the company’s existing growth ambitions while bringing in a leader whose experience can help guide the next phase of development.
Align Technology’s future opportunities are tied to several major trends. One is the continued global adoption of clear aligner therapy, particularly as digital orthodontics becomes more mainstream and consumer awareness continues to rise. Another is the broader digitization of dental practices, where intraoral scanning, treatment planning software, and integrated restorative workflows are becoming increasingly important. Align’s combination of Invisalign, iTero, and exocad positions it to participate across multiple stages of the digital dental ecosystem rather than relying on a single product line.
At the same time, the company faces ongoing challenges. Competition in the aligner market remains intense, and the pace of innovation in dental technology means that product leadership cannot be taken for granted. Economic conditions can also affect demand for elective dental and orthodontic procedures, particularly in consumer-sensitive segments. In that environment, board oversight becomes especially important in areas such as capital allocation, international expansion, research and development priorities, and talent strategy.
Conroy’s background may be useful in helping Align Technology navigate those issues. His recent experience leading a healthcare company through significant value creation and eventual acquisition could provide perspective on strategic growth, portfolio management, and investor expectations. His role as chair of Align’s Compensation and Human Capital Committee also means he is already engaged with the company’s leadership and talent agenda, a factor that may help him transition smoothly into the chairman role.
Larkin Leaves Behind a Legacy of Governance and Growth
Although Conroy’s appointment looks ahead, much of Align Technology’s announcement is also a tribute to Larkin’s long-standing role in the company’s evolution. Larkin himself reflected on his tenure by saying it had been an honor to serve as Chairman and that he was proud of what Align has achieved. He expressed confidence in the company’s continued leadership in digital dentistry and said he looked forward to supporting Conroy and the board during the transition period.
Those remarks reinforce the tone of the succession plan: respectful, planned, and focused on continuity rather than disruption. Larkin is not severing ties immediately; instead, he is staying involved long enough to help the board move through the transition with stability. That matters for a company like Align Technology, where long-term governance relationships and strategic oversight have been intertwined with the company’s rise from a niche orthodontic innovator to a global digital dentistry leader.
His legacy is likely to be associated with several key elements of Align Technology’s growth story. One is the company’s success in helping redefine orthodontic treatment through the commercialization and global scaling of Invisalign. Another is the expansion of Align beyond aligners into digital scanning and software, a move that broadened its addressable market and reinforced its position as a technology company serving the dental profession. A third is the company’s development as a mature public enterprise with increasingly sophisticated governance and international reach. Board leadership may not always be visible to customers or patients, but it can have a profound impact on how a company grows, manages risk, and responds to changing markets.
A Board Transition with Long-Term Implications
Board chairmanship changes often receive less public attention than CEO appointments, but they can still be strategically important—particularly at companies where the board plays a strong role in guiding long-term vision, succession planning, and governance. At Align Technology, the transition from Larkin to Conroy represents a passing of the baton between two leaders with different but complementary strengths: one who helped steward the company through decades of expansion and one who is now being positioned to help guide it through the next era of innovation and value creation.
Conroy, for his part, said he was honored to be appointed chairman and emphasized that Align has a strong foundation, an exceptional leadership team, and significant opportunities ahead. He said he looks forward to working closely with Hogan, the board, and management to continue driving innovation, expanding access to digital orthodontics, and creating long-term value for stockholders.
That framing aligns closely with the broader strategic identity Align Technology has built over time. The company has long presented itself not simply as a manufacturer of dental products, but as a driver of digital transformation in orthodontics and restorative dentistry. If Conroy’s leadership helps the board sharpen that strategy, strengthen governance, and support the next wave of global expansion, then the transition may come to be seen not just as a change in title, but as an important step in Align’s continuing corporate evolution.
As July 1 approaches, Align Technology appears to be managing its board leadership transition from a position of organizational stability. Larkin’s retirement as chairman closes a major chapter in the company’s history, but his continued service through the end of the year provides a bridge that should help preserve continuity. Conroy’s appointment, meanwhile, signals the board’s confidence in a leader with a mix of public-company, healthcare, and strategic experience that aligns with the company’s ambitions.
For investors and industry observers, the transition is less about abrupt change and more about succession at a mature but still growth-oriented healthcare technology company. Align remains a prominent force in clear aligners, digital scanning, and dental software, and its future will depend on its ability to keep innovating while expanding adoption across a global customer base of orthodontists, dentists, and patients.
In that context, the handoff from Ray Larkin to Kevin Conroy is more than a governance update. It is a carefully structured leadership shift at a company that continues to define the digital dentistry market. With a seasoned outgoing chairman helping guide the transition and an incoming chairman bringing fresh experience from across healthcare and corporate leadership, Align is positioning its board for continuity today and strategic evolution in the years ahead.
ABOUT C. RAYMOND LARKIN, JR.
Mr. Larkin has served as a member of Align’s Board since 2004. He has decades of leadership experience in the medical device and healthcare industries, including serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Nellcor Puritan Bennett, where he led the company’s growth to nearly $1 billion in revenue and helped establish pulse oximetry as a global standard of care. Throughout his tenure at Align, Mr. Larkin has provided strategic guidance across periods of significant growth and innovation, drawing on his extensive public and private company board experience and deep expertise in healthcare.
ABOUT KEVIN CONROY
Mr. Conroy has served as an independent director of Align since December 2023 and Chair of the Compensation and Human Capital Committee of the Board since January 2026. He brings extensive experience as a business, legal, and strategic leader, including serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Exact Sciences Corp.
until its acquisition by Abbott Laboratories in March 2026, where he led the commercialization of Cologuard and grew the company to $3.25 billion in annual revenue while serving millions of patients. Prior to Exact Sciences, Mr. Conroy served as President and CEO of Third Wave Technologies and held leadership roles at GE Healthcare. He currently serves on the board of Abbott Laboratories and brings deep expertise in healthcare innovation, strategy, and governance.
About Align Technology, Inc.
Align Technology designs and manufactures the Invisalign® System, the most advanced clear aligner system in the world, iTero™ intraoral scanners and services, and exocad™ CAD/CAM software. These technology building blocks enable enhanced digital orthodontic and restorative workflows to improve patient outcomes and practice efficiencies for approximately 299.5 thousand doctor customers and are key to accessing Align’s 600 million consumer market opportunity worldwide.
Over the past 29 years, Align has helped doctors treat approximately 22.8 million patients with the Invisalign System and is driving the evolution in digital dentistry through the Align™ Digital Platform, our integrated suite of unique, proprietary technologies and services delivered as a seamless, end-to-end solution for patients and consumers, orthodontists and GP dentists, and lab/partners.
