Wheaton, Ill., May 1, 2008--Darin Kath, president and CEO of Jewelers Mutual Ins. Co., was elected chairman of the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) at AAIS's recent annual meeting, held in conjunction with the AAIS Main Event conference, April 20-22 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

AAIS is a national insurance advisory organization that develops standardized policy forms and rating information used by more than 600 property/casualty companies throughout the U.S.

A marketing graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Kath worked for Heritage Mutual Ins. Co. (now ACUITY) in Sheboygan, Wis. before joining Jewelers Mutual in 1997. He was promoted to chief operating officer in 2001 and to president in 2005.

Kath replaces James Sullivan, president and CEO of Co-operative Insurance Companies, who remains on the board. Succeeding Kath as vice chairman is Jack Rader, executive vice president and COO of Farmers Alliance Companies, McPherson, Kan.

Stuart Henderson, president and CEO of Western National Insurance Group, Edina, Minn., was newly elected to the board, replacing Thomas Claude, vice president and secretary of Pharmacists Mutual Ins. Co., Algona, Iowa, who stepped down from the board after serving seven years.

Other board members continuing on are:

• Roy Bubeck, president and CEO of Badger Mutual Ins. Co., Milwaukee, Wis.;

• Judy Jackson, president and CEO of NLC Insurance Companies, Norwich, Conn.;

• Jeffrey Kusch, president and CEO of Austin Mutual Ins. Co., Minneapolis, Minn.;

• Thomas Rozema, vice president of underwriting for Brotherhood Mutual Ins. Co., Fort Wayne, Ind.;

• Christopher Taft, president and COO, Preferred Mutual Ins. Co., New Berlin, N.Y.; and

• Paul Baiocchi, AAIS president.