Horace Mann announces Kardos to retire, new C.E.O. appointed
Thursday January 27, 8:59 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2000--Horace Mann Educators Corp. (NYSE:HMN - news) today announced Paul J. Kardos will retire as President and Chief Executive Officer effective Feb. 1, 2000. He will be succeeded as President and C.E.O. by Louis G. Lower, II, who most recently served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Allstate Life Insurance Company.
Kardos, 62, also serves as Chairman of the Board and will retain that position until a new chairman is elected at the annual meeting of shareholders in May 2000. Kardos joined Horace Mann in 1977 and became President and C.E.O. in 1982. Prior to joining Horace Mann he worked for what was then the Insurance Company of North America (INA), where he began his insurance career in 1962.
``I have truly enjoyed my 23 years at Horace Mann,' Kardos says, ``and I'm very proud of what the Horace Mann Family has been able to accomplish. Now, though, it's time for a new leader to guide the company in the new millennium. The board, with my strong support, has been looking at the issue of choosing my successor. The selection of Lou Lower was a unanimous decision of the board, and I will do all I can to assist him during the upcoming transition.'
Lower, 54, will also become a member of Horace Mann's board of directors next month (in addition to becoming President and C.E.O.). Lower joined Allstate in 1976 and became C.E.O. of its life insurance operations in 1990. He is a 1967 graduate of Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard University in 1970.
``Under the leadership of Paul Kardos, the Horace Mann team has developed a strong business model serving our nation's educators. As we move ahead, new developments in financial services and rapid changes in technology will undoubtedly affect the way the insurance industry does business. I'm excited about building on a great foundation, seizing new opportunities, and leading Horace Mann to a new level of success,' Lower says.
Founded in 1945 and headquartered in Springfield, Ill., Horace Mann sells retirement annuities and automobile, homeowners and life insurance to the nation's educators through an exclusive sales force of more than 1,000 agents.
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Horace Mann
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J. Michael Henderson
217/788-5708
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217/788-5373
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