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The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
Media: William Adler, (914) 244-7585 william.adler@rd.com
Investor Relations: Richard Clark, (914) 244-5425 richard.clark@rd.com
Reader's Digest Association Elects Lee Caudill and
John T. Reid to its Board of Directors
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., August 12, 2005 - The Reader's Digest Association,
Inc. (NYSE: RDA) today elected prominent U.S. marketer Lee Caudill and global
business development expert Dr. John T. Reid to the company's Board of
Directors. The appointments were made at the Board's regular summer meeting. Ms.
Caudill, 56, is President of SeniorTrak Consulting, of San Francisco, a firm
that she founded in 1991 to provide executive-level staffing and advise
companies on marketing, operations and sales. Earlier, she was President of Liz
Claiborne's Jewelry Division, and General Manager and Vice President of Avon
Products Fashion & Gifts business unit. She also served as a management
consultant for Cresap/Towers Perrin, where she was Vice President and Partner
working with Fortune 1,000 corporations, and Cresap, McCormick & Paget, where
she became the firm's first female partner. Ms. Caudill holds an M.B.A. from
Wharton School of Business and a B.A. in psychology from The College of William
and Mary. Before beginning her business career, she spent two years at Oxford
University as a research psychologist studying cognitive theories of child
development. Dr. Reid, 65, has enjoyed a distinguished career as senior
corporate executive, strategic planner, economist and university professor. He
currently serves on the Boards of Minerals Technologies Inc., Center for Global
Development and Citizens' Committee for Children. He is Adjunct Professor,
Managing Global Corporations, at Stern Business School, New York University. Dr.
Reid retired from daily corporate life in 2000 after 18 years with Colgate
Palmolive Company, where he served as Chief Technological Officer, responsible
for Global Research & Development, Information Technology and the
Manufacturing/Supply Chain. This followed initiation of Colgate's first
strategic plan and subsequent leadership of subsidiaries in Greece, the United
Kingdom and Australia / South Pacific. Earlier, he spent 13 years with Pfizer,
where he provided strategic planning and was Assistant to the President,
International, among other international operations assignments. He began his
career as a business economist with W.R. Grace. He holds a D Phil in
international marketing from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar
and played rugby for the university. His undergraduate degree was from the
University of New Zealand, Massey College. He is a New Zealand citizen and a
U.S. permanent resident. James E. Preston, a Board member and Chairman of the
Nominating Committee, said of the appointments: "On behalf of the Board, I am
delighted to welcome two strong thinkers who are capable of materially
contributing to the growth and development of this company. It is rare to find
executives with exemplary records of achievement in both strategic thinking and
delivering bottom-line results, and yet today at Reader's Digest we are
welcoming two such high achievers, for which we are most grateful." Ms. Caudill
and Dr. Reid become the tenth and eleventh current members of the Board. They
join the class of company directors that will stand for reelection at the
November 18, 2005 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Ms. Caudill will join the
Board's Finance Committee and Dr. Reid will join the Audit Committee. The
Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global publisher and direct marketer of
products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and
cultures around the world. Global revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30,
2005 were $2.4 billion. Corporate headquarters are located at Pleasantville, New
York. The company's main Web site is at www.rd.com.
This release may include "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
future results and occurrences to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.'s filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including its reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K,
contain a discussion of additional factors that could affect future results and
occurrences. Reader's Digest does not undertake to update any forward-looking
statements.