Mr. Freedman age 66 has been a member of our Board of Directors since its inception in 1979. Mr. Freedman is currently the owner and principal of arfreedman&co a corporate strategy development firm and is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company where he served as Chief Executive Officer until May 2000 and Chairman until his retirement in July 2000. In 1979 Mr. Freedman became the Company's President and first employee initiating the Company's initial strategy and orchestrating its growth over the next 21 years. He began his career in 1964 as a tax lawyer and a year later he joined the Internal Revenue Service's Office of the Chief Counsel. Mr. Freedman served as Vice President of D.H. Magid & Co. from 1967 to 1970. From there he served as Vice President of Irving Trust Company (now Bank of New York). In 1975 Mr. Freedman became Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Lewis R. Eisner & Co. where he managed the creation of what is now Assurant in the United States along with several other investments made by predecessors of Assurant. Beginning in 1978 he initiated and supervised most aspects of Assurant's U.S. operations. Since his retirement as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company he has served as a Director of StoneMor Partners L.P. (formerly Cornerstone Family Services) Chairman of its audit committee and a member of its investment committee. In October 2004 he became a member of the board of directors of Indus International Inc. and serves as Chairman of its compensation committee. In July 2005 he became a member of the board of directors of Loring Ward International Ltd. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Association of Audit Committee Members Inc. From 1984 to 2004 Mr. Freedman served on the board of directors of Systems & Computer Technologies Corporation (SCTC). In 2002 he was the Chairman of the board and was Chairman of the audit committee of SCTC.