Bank of the West elects Toney to Board.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 1995--The Board of Directors of Bank of the West announced today that they have elected Rear Admiral Robert L. Toney, U.S. Navy (Ret.), 60, to the Board of Directors. Toney is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. He assumed this position in January 1991 following a 34-year career in the Navy.

Admiral Toney's experience in the Navy featured leadership and management positions afloat and ashore, including Naval Base Commander in San Francisco, where he managed more than 60,000 people from Monterey to the Northern California border, with a payroll of $2.6 billion.

Admiral Toney was born on August 30, 1934 in Monroe, Louisiana and moved to Oakland at the age of eight. He attended Youngstown State University (Ohio) from 1962 and 1954, and graduated from California State University, Chico in 1957 with a bachelor of arts degree. He was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserve on October 31, 1957. He completed NATO Defense College in Rome in 1977 and the National and International Security Course at Harvard in 1990.

Admiral Toney has served on the board of directors of The United Way, World Affairs Council, Commonwealth Club, Volunteers of America, and the Oakland Boys and Girls Club.

He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters from National Defense University in October 1988, and from Golden Gate University in June 1994.

The recipient of many awards and decorations for meritorious service during his years in the Navy, Toney and his wife, Flora, have two daughters and one son. He currently resides in Oakland.

CONTACT: Bank of the West

Robert S. Raye, 510/942-8585