Industry veteran Richard White is to serve as the company's Chief Executive Officer and to become a member of the Board of Directors effective August 1, 2009. He succeeds John Baldwin, who remains President and Vice Chairman of the Board.
A screening team of board members consisted, among others, of Dr. Seth Goldberg, Chairman of the Board, and John Baldwin. “Richard is the perfect choice for First Rehab Life. His extensive insurance industry background and vision for our company’s future were key factors in our decision,” said Dr. Seth Goldberg. John Baldwin added “We are confident that his open and straightforward style will win the respect of both our employees and our customers.”
“I’m excited to join this outstanding leadership team and have the opportunity to build on its success,” said Richard White. He will take up his new task August 5. White was selected based on his track record, as well as his strong executive and personal qualities:
He brings 25 years of experience in creating and implementing effective strategies for business growth, diversification, product development, sales expansion and operational excellence for several leading insurance companies. White’s most recent role was as Executive Vice President of Domestic Markets with Pan American Life Insurance Company in New Orleans where he was responsible for all businesses in the United States and Puerto Rico. This included employee benefits as well as a focus in selling individual products to the U.S. Hispanic market. While with Pan American, White instituted a turn-around of underperforming product segments while also increasing revenues in the core limited medical business by almost 40%.
Prior to Pan American, White spent almost 20 years with The Guardian Life Insurance Company; the last five years as Senior Vice President of Group Insurance – a $4 billion business where he established and drove a diversification strategy by growing the company’s core group life, dental and disability businesses, while doubling profitability of the Group Insurance Division. Prior to that, he also held leadership positions as Head of Sales, Head of Strategic Planning and Business Development and leader of the group medical insurance business. He started his career with Guardian as a Group Sales Representative and spent eight years in field sales.
Richard White earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska and holds certificates in Marketing Management from Columbia University and Organizational & Executive Coaching from New York University.