Thomas J. Crawford was appointed president, CEO and a member of the board in February 2007. He has more than 27 years of business management experience focused on strategy, operations improvement, sales and marketing.

Prior to joining Stewart, he served on behalf of Sorenson Capital Partners, a private equity group, as CEO of Erickson Companies, a regional residential framing company with manufacturing operations in Arizona, California and Nevada. He was Chairman, CEO and President of publicly-traded The York Group, Inc., one of the largest casket manufacturers in the U.S., from 2000 until its merger with Matthews International Corporation in 2002. In addition, he served in various positions with the Batesville Casket Company, a leading manufacturer and supplier of caskets, including Hardwood Products Group Vice President and General Manager, New Business Development Vice President, Marketing Vice President and Logistics Vice President.

He served as Corporate Development Director for both the Batesville Casket Company and its parent company, Hillenbrand Industries.

Thomas M. Kitchen has served as a member of the board of directors since 2004. He is a member of the investment committee. He was an investment management consultant with Equitas Capital Advisors, LLC in New Orleans. During a 25-year career with Avondale Industries, Inc., the nation's fifth largest shipbuilder, he served as president, chief financial officer and board member.

He has served as a board member for the New Orleans Regional Chamber, the Metrovision Economic Development Partnership, the New Orleans Business Council, the Jefferson Business Council, the Financial Executives Institute and AICPA/Louisiana Society of CPAs. He is also a member of the American Shipbuilding Association in Washington, D.C.

Lawrence B. Hawkins is president of Investors Trust, Inc., the Stewart subsidiary since 1979 that manages all Stewart trust accounts. He also serves on Stewart's Senior Executive Committee.

Prior to joining Investors Trust in 1989, he handled Stewart's trust accounts as the head of personal trust investments for a Texas bank. He was the senior vice president of M Trust of Dallas, vice president and manager of investments for Valley National Bank in Tucson, Ariz., and assistant vice president and portfolio manager for Mellon Bank. He earned a master's degree in business administration from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. and a bachelor's degree in Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Brent F. Heffron is president of the Eastern Division, responsible for overseeing the operations of funeral homes and cemeteries in 11 states and Puerto Rico. He also serves on Stewart's Senior Executive Committee. He joined the Company in 1992 when he merged his funeral home/cemetery combination operation — Catawba Memorial Park and Funeral Home, in Hickory, N.C.— with Stewart. He previously served as president of the former Southern Division and as a chief operating officer of the Company's Eastern Division's Southern Region.

He has more than 32 years experience as a cemeterian and businessman. He was vice president and general manager of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Charlotte, N.C. He is a past president of the Southern Cemetery Association and has served, by gubernatorial appointment, as vice chairman and chairman of the North Carolina Cemetery Commission. He earned a degree in political science from Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

G. Kenneth "Ken" Stephens Jr. is president of the Western Division, responsible for overseeing the operations in 15 states. He also serves on Stewart's Senior Executive Committee. He was the president of the former Eastern Division. He has also served as chief operating officer of the former Eastern Division's Southern Region. He joined Stewart in 1993 as vice president of cemetery operations for the Southern Region when his North Carolina cemeteries merged with the Company.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree in Economics from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill.