Karen Clark to Step Down as President and CEO of AIR Worldwide.S. Ming Lee to Assume Leadership Role BOSTON -- AIR Worldwide today announced that Karen Clark, its current president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , will assume the role of vice chairman of the board of AIR, effective April 15, 2007. S. Ming Lee, currently the company's executive vice president, will succeed her as president and chief executive officer. As the founder of AIR Worldwide, Karen Clark is an internationally recognized expert in the field of catastrophe risk modeling. In 1987, Ms. Clark pioneered the probabilistic (probability) probabilistic - Relating to, or governed by, probability. The behaviour of a probabilistic system cannot be predicted exactly but the probability of certain behaviours is known. Such systems may be simulated using pseudorandom numbers. catastrophe modeling
"Karen's contributions to the insurance industry are significant and widely recognized," said Frank Coyne, chairman, president and chief executive officer of ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. , AIR's parent company. "I cannot overstate the groundbreaking quality of Karen's work on behalf of the property/casualty industry and many other businesses and governmental agencies that must anticipate and prepare for natural and man-made catastrophes. We at ISO are very pleased that she will continue to play an active role in AIR for the next several years as both an advisor to the organization and as a board member." "When I started AIR in the late 1980s, the need for objective scientific tools for catastrophe risk assessment was clear," Ms. Clark said. "Catastrophe modeling as a recognized insurance discipline did not exist, so I took up the challenge. Now, the next frontier lies in working more closely with decision makers in the industry to foster a deeper understanding of the models and how to use them most effectively. I've decided the time is right for me to rebalance my activities and pursue new challenges." "Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. ago, Karen Clark created an industry when she founded AIR, with a vision to change the way companies assess and manage their catastrophe risk," continued Coyne. "Karen has also built a world-class management team at AIR that has the expertise and experience to successfully execute and expand on that vision." "Our business has never been stronger, and with our current leadership team, AIR is well-positioned for success in the years ahead," Clark said. "I remain committed to providing strategic direction to the company, and I will be working side by side with Ming and AIR's senior management to ensure a seamless transition." Mr. Lee joined AIR in 1996 and has managed several departments over the past decade. He currently directs the operations of AIR's Consulting and Software Services Group, encompassing software product management and testing, technical support and catastrophe loss analysis services. Since the introduction of catastrophe bonds catastrophe bond A debt security with a payoff tied to the relative severity of a natural disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake. Bondholders are paid with insurance premiums but may have to accept reduced principal repayment in the event the specified , he has led AIR's modeling support for insurance-linked securities and was directly involved in many of the insurance industry's landmark securitization Securitization The process of creating a financial instrument by combining other financial assets and then marketing them to investors. Notes: Mortgage backed securities are a perfect example of securitization. May also be spelled as "securitisation. transactions. Before joining AIR, Lee held senior executive positions at several leading information technology companies. A former U.S. Navy officer, Lee is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, and Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford Business School or Stanford GSB) is one of the professional schools of Stanford University, in Stanford, California. It is one of the leading business schools in the United States. . "I look forward to leading AIR, and I am extremely confident that AIR's management team will enable the company to build on our momentum," Lee said. "AIR's new models and updates to existing models will advance the science of catastrophe modeling, and our planned software updates will provide greater analytical insight and enhance our clients' productivity. As always, we will continue to enhance our service and support offerings to better meet the evolving needs of our clients." "With AIR's rapid growth worldwide, it is critical to appoint a leader who knows the industry and can continue to deliver the level of service that AIR clients expect," explained Clark. "Ming has been instrumental in growing AIR's revenues and brings outstanding experience in building and expanding the capabilities of our software products and services group. His passion for ensuring superior customer service, his acknowledged leadership skills and deep knowledge of the catastrophe risk business make Ming ideally suited to lead AIR into the future. I have confidence that Ming will be able to take AIR to the next level." Mr. Coyne continued, "Karen's strong business relationships with customers and her understanding of their requirements have enabled AIR to experience steady growth over the past 20 years. Her guidance and understanding of the industry have also had a profound effect on AIR's effectiveness in this market. At the same time, I am very excited about AIR's future growth under Ming's leadership. He brings a wealth of experience to his new position. His widely recognized expertise in risk assessment and risk management technology--combined with his impressive track record as a manager--form an ideal combination. I'm confident that under Ming's leadership AIR will continue its impressive record of growth by developing innovative analytic tools its customers need to better manage their catastrophe risk." About AIR Worldwide Corporation AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) is a leading risk modeling company helping clients manage the financial impact of catastrophes and weather. Utilizing the latest science and technology, AIR models natural catastrophes in more than 40 countries and the risk from terrorism in the United States A common definition of terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. . Other areas of expertise include site-specific seismic engineering analysis, catastrophe bonds and property replacement cost valuation. A member of the ISO family of companies, AIR was founded in 1987 to provide its insurance, reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. , corporate and government clients a complete line of risk modeling software and consulting services that produce consistent and reliable results. Headquartered in Boston, AIR has additional offices in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com. About ISO ISO is a leading provider of products and services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. ISO provides data, analytics and decision-support solutions to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract , government and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. . Clients use ISO's databases and services to classify and evaluate a variety of risks and detect potential fraud. In the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and around the world, ISO's services help customers protect people, property and financial assets Financial assets Claims on real assets. . For more information, visit http://www.iso.com. |
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