Harleysville President Patkus Resigns

Harleysville President Patkus Resigns

By Caroline McDonald

NU Online News Service, Jan. 17, 3:20 p.m. EST?Harleysville Insurance announced today that M. Lee Patkus, president and chief operating officer of Harleysville Group Inc., has resigned. He will take a position with Citizen and Hanover Insurance Companies and will leave the company on Friday.[@@]

Citizen and Hanover announced Mr. Patkus will be working as a regional vice president for the company's Florida region. A Harleysville spokesman told National Underwriter that his successor has not yet been named.

Harleysville is a property-casualty insurer specializing in small commercial lines. The company also announced that, effective immediately, all senior management team members formerly reporting to Mr. Patkus will report to Michael L. Browne, Harleysville Group's chief executive officer.

Mr. Browne was elected CEO of Harleysville, Pa.-based Harleysville Group and CEO and president of Harleysville Mutual in February 2004, according to the company Web site.

Mr. Browne said in a statement that "Harleysville Insurance has benefited from Lee Patkus' leadership during his tenure with the company, and we wish him well following his decision to move on to another professional opportunity in the insurance industry."

He continued that Mr. Patkus has helped assemble "an excellent management team in our insurance operations, and he leaves us in a strong position to continue to improve our results."

Mr. Patkus joined Harleysville in 1999 as executive vice president of field operations and subsidiaries. He was named president and chief operating officer of Harleysville Group in August 2002.