(February 20 – 11:50 ET) – On March 1, Jeannine Guillevin Wood is retiring from the board of directors of the Laurentian Bank of Canada after nearly 25 years. Guillevin Wood was appointed chairman of the Laurentian Bank in December 1997. She was the first woman to chair the board of a Canadian Schedule 1 bank.

Her successor, businessman Jon Grant, has been a director at the bank since 1988. Laurentian Bank’s board of directors confirmed Grant’s appointment at their meeting of today.

“As the new chairman of the board, I want to assure the president and chief executive officer, as well as his team, of our full support in fostering the growth and development of the bank,” Grant said.

Henri-Paul Rousseau, president and CEO of the bank, said “I am pleased to participate with Ms. Guillevin Wood in the implementation of a new strategic orientation, that is making the bank a unique, flexible and innovative financial institution in a radically evolving financial market. The contribution of the new chairman and the board members will be all the more essential as we strive to further our development.”

Jon Grant, of Peterborough, Ont., is chairman of the board of CCL Industries, the Canada Lands Company, as well as the Nature Conservancy of Canada (Ontario region) and the Canadian Canoe Museum. In addition to acting as former president and CEO of Quaker Oats of Canada Ltd., Grant sits on the board of directors of Laurentian Trust of Canada Ltd., AXA and Anglo Canada General Insurance Company.

After graduating from the business school of the University of Western Ontario in 1959, Grant built a career in the food industry. He joined Quaker Oats in 1974. Appointed president and CEO of the company in 1976, he became chairman in 1991. His areas of executive expertise include education, agriculture, food and consumption, labour and the environment. He has held or continues to hold managerial and advisory positions in these sectors.
-IE Staff