National Black Nurses Association, Inc. 8630 Fenton Street, Suite 330, Silver Spring, MD 20910 · Phone: (301) 589-3200 · Fax: (301) 589-3223

Aetna’s President Ron Williams to make Keynote Address at NBNA Convention

Ronald A. Williams, President of Aetna, Inc., will make the Keynote Address at the Opening Ceremony of the National Black Nurses Association, Inc. 31st Annual Institute and Conference at the New Orleans Marriott, July 30 – August 3, 2003. The Opening Ceremony will be held on Thursday, July 31, 2003 at 6:30 p.m. The theme of the Conference is “Emerging Health Threats: Nursing Solutions in a New Era.” The Opening Ceremony is open at no cost to the public.

Mr. Williams joined Aetna in March 2001 as Executive Vice President and Chief of Health Operations. He was named President in May 2002. Mr. Williams is a member of the company’s Board of Directors and is a member of the four person Office of the Chairman – the company’s most senior management governing body.

As President, Mr. Williams is responsible for Aetna’s overall operations, including customer sales and support, health care costs and quality initiatives, provider relations, member services and new product development. The heads of Aetna’s consumer segments, as well as its specialty health, which includes pharmacy benefit management and dental, and the life, disability and long term care insurance businesses, report to Mr. Williams.

Prior to joining Aetna, Mr. Williams was Group President of the Large Group Division at WellPoint Health Networks, Inc., and President of the company’s Blue Cross of California subsidiary. Mr. Williams joined Blue Cross of California in 1987, serving first as Vice President, Corporate Services; Senior Vice President, Marketing and Specialty Products; and then as Executive Vice President, Group and Network Services. He became President of Blue Cross of California in 1995, with responsibility for all California customer segments. In 1999, he added the role of Group President, Large Group Division.

Previously, Mr. Williams was a Senior Vice President at Vista Health Corporation, group marketing executive at Control Data Corporation and President and co-founder of Integrative Systems.

In 2002, Fortune Magazine named Mr. Williams to their list of Top 50 Black Executives in America. He sits on the Dean’s Advisory Council and the Corporate Visiting Committee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Williams is a graduate of Roosevelt University and holds an M.S. in management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The National Black Nurses Association, founded in 1971, is a professional organization, representing 150,000 African American registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses and nursing students. The mission of NBNA is to “investigate, define and determine the health care requirements of African Americans and other diverse communities to foster optimal health and health care services commensurate with that of the larger society.”

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