Gregory T. Barmore has served on the Board of Directors since 1996. He retired as Chairman of the Board of GE Capital Mortgage Corporation (GECMC), a subsidiary of General Electric Capital Corporation (GE Capital) headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1997. He was responsible for overseeing the strategic development of GECMC's residential real estate-affiliated financial business, including mortgage insurance, mortgage services and mortgage funding. Prior to joining GECMC in 1986, Mr. Barmore was Chief Financial Officer of Employers Reinsurance Corporation (ERC), one of the nation's largest property and casualty reinsurance companies and also a subsidiary of GE Capital. Mr. Barmore also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of ICO, Inc., a Houston, Texas based company which provides custom engineered polymer powders for rotational molding and other polymer markets.
Art N. Burtscher has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2001. In 2000, Mr. Burtscher became Chairman of McCarthy Group Advisors, LLC, an Omaha, Nebraska asset management organization. From 1988 to 2000, Mr. Burtscher served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Great Western Bank in Omaha, Nebraska.
Edward W. Mehrer has been a member of the Board of Directors since 1996. From November 2002 through June 2003, he served as Interim President & Chief Executive Officer of Cydex, a pharmaceutical company based in Overland Park, Kansas. From 1996 through December 2003, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Cydex. For approximately ten years and until December 1995, Mr. Mehrer was associated with Hoechst Marion Roussel, formerly Marion Merrell Dow, Inc., an international pharmaceutical company (Marion). From December 1991 to December 1995, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and a director of Marion. Prior to joining Marion, Mr. Mehrer was a partner with the public accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., a predecessor firm to KPMG LLP, in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Mehrer also serves on the Board of Directors of FBL Financial Group, Inc., a Des Moines, Iowa insurance company.
Donald M. Berman was named to the Board of Directors in July of 2005. Since 1987 Mr. Berman has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CardWorks, L.P., a privately held consumer finance company based in Woodbury, New York. As Chief Executive Officer of CardWorks, Mr. Berman oversees four wholly owned subsidiaries: Cardworks Servicing (CWS), based in Woodbury, New York, which was founded by Mr. Berman in 1987, Merrick Bank, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was established by Cardworks in 1997, Cardworks Processing, based in Tucson, Arizona which was purchased in 2008 and Cardworks Acquiring, based in Woodbury, N.Y. which was established as part of the acquisition of the Processing company. Mr. Berman has been a senior marketing executive with Eastern States Bankcard Association, a bankcard industry consultant and a Vice President in the Financial Institutions Division of Smith Barney.
W. Lance Anderson is a co-founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of NovaStar Financial. He took over as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in January of 2008. Prior to that he was President and Chief Operating Officer and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 1996. Prior to joining NovaStar, Mr. Anderson served as Executive Vice President of Dynex Capital, Inc., formerly Resource Mortgage Capital, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed real estate investment trust (Dynex). In addition, Mr. Anderson was President and Chief Executive Officer of Dynex's single-family mortgage operation, Saxon Mortgage. He had been at Dynex since October 1989.