Pharmaceutical retailer Rite Aid’s board has elected president and chief executive John Standley to the additional position of chairman, with effect from June 21. Standley will succeed Mary Sammons, who has served as chairman since June 2007 and whose term of service in the role concludes at the June annual meeting. Standley returned to Rite Aid in September 2008 as president and chief operating office after leaving in August 2005 to become chief executive of grocer Pathmark Stores. He originally joined Rite Aid in December 1999 as executive vice-president and chief financial officer, part of a new executive management team that also included Sammons.