Birmingham, AL – ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) recently announced that W. Stancil (Stan) Starnes, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, will retire from the ProAssurance board at the end of his current term and is not standing for re-election. Mr. Starnes will serve his remaining term as a director and Executive Chairman, which expires at the Annual Meeting Shareholders to be held on May 24th, 2022.
“On behalf of our entire organization and the stakeholders we serve, I want to thank Stan for his visionary leadership and deep commitment to our insureds, our investors, our employees and the larger medical community,” said Ned Rand, President and CEO of ProAssurance. He added, “Stan’s support, encouragement and mentorship have been indispensable to me. We all wish him the best in his upcoming retirement.”
Mr. Starnes has been a member of the ProAssurance Board since September 2007 and has served as Chairman, then Executive Chairman, since October 2008. In addition, Mr. Starnes served as Chief Executive Officer of the company from July 2007 to July 2019, overseeing a remarkable period in which ProAssurance completed seven acquisitions, significantly diversified its product offerings, and vastly expanded its geographical reach. Prior to his time at ProAssurance, Starnes was Senior Partner at Starnes & Atchison LLP (now Starnes Davis Florie LLP), which he and his father founded in 1975, launching a 34-year career of nationally recognized excellence in courtroom advocacy for the healthcare community and leading companies and financial institutions.
Mr. Starnes’ civic involvement parallels his service to the nation’s medical and business community. He currently serves as the President pro Tempore of the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama System and Chairman of Ascension, the largest non-profit and Catholic health system in the U.S. He has been widely recognized for his innumerable contributions to the business and civic life of the communities he has served. In 2021, Mr. Starnes was elected to the Alabama Business Hall of Fame, and in 2018 he had the singular honor of being named to Alabama’s Academy of Honor, an organization created by the Alabama Legislature to recognize the achievements of only 100 living Alabamians.
Lead Independent Director Tommy Wilson, M.D., praised the legacy Mr. Starnes leaves at ProAssurance. He said, “Stan Starnes has left an indelible mark on ProAssurance as a result of his outstanding leadership skills and the commitment to excellence he instilled in our company. I’m honored to have served alongside him cementing ProAssurance’s legacy as a leading specialty insurance company.” He continued, “The first order of business after our annual meeting of stockholders on May 24th will be for the Board to elect an independent chair to fill this important role in which Stan has served us so admirably.”
Source: ProAssurance