Navient last week held its 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and voted to reelect the nine nominees to serve as directors for one-year terms.
The directors are Chairman Bill Diefenderfer III, Anna Escobedo Cabral, Katherine Lehman, Linda Mills, Jack Remondi, Jane Thompson, Laura Unger, Barry Williams and David Yowan.
Director Diane Suitt Gilleland retired at the annual meeting. Gilleland has served on the board since 1997, appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton when the company was a government-sponsored enterprise.
Since then, she has been integral to the company’s transformation, including privatization in 2004 and the creation of Navient in 2014,, a release stated.
Her distinguished career in higher education also includes leadership positions at the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, the American Council on Education, the Institute for Higher Education Policy and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.
“Diane is a pioneer on the frontier of higher education finance,” said William Diefenderfer, chairman of the board. “She has great experience and expertise, and an incredible heart for helping people on a path to financial success.”
John Adams Jr. also completed his term with the board. He has served on the board since November 2014.
Five of the nine directors are women, representing 55 percent of the company’s board.
The company has attracted nationwide recognition for gender parity on its board.
Shareholders voted in accordance with the recommendations of the company’s board of directors on each of the four proposals at the meeting.
Represented by proxy or present in person at the meeting were 92 percent of the company’s total shares outstanding.
An activist shareholder group that had bought stock in the company had earlier announced it would work to get representation on the board.
