Zore Says Goodbye With A KaBOOM!

By staff Writer

June 01, 2010 at 08:00 PM

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Edward Zore plans to retire from the post of chief executive officer at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company June 30 and from the post of chairman July 30.

John Schlifske, 51, will take over as CEO July 1 and as chairman Aug. 1, according to Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee.

Zore, the Northwestern Mutual CEO since 2001, will stay on the company's board after he retires.

Schlifske, now the president of Northwestern Mutual, began working for the company as an investment specialist in 1987. He has a bachelor's degree from Carleton College and a master's degree in finance from Northwestern University.

Gary Poliner will become Northwestern Mutual's president and chief risk officer.

Zore is marking the transition by offering each of the company's 5,000 employees 4 hours of paid volunteer time. He is hoping to donate 1 million minutes of employees' time to southeast Wisconsin nonprofits by the end of the year.

Zore, other Northwestern Mutual employees, Boys & Girls Clubs volunteers and KaBOOM!, a charity that builds playgrounds, are joining forces today to build a playground at a Boys & Girls Clubs camp in Hartland, Wis. Northwestern Mutual also will be paying for camp scholarships for 80 children.

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