People – East

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. announced that Michael Browne, president and chief operating officer of the Harleysville Insurance, a member of the Nationwide family of companies, will retire effective May 1, 2014.

Following Browne’s retirement, Kevin Toth, who has been serving as regional vice president of mid-Atlantic operations at Harleysville Insurance, will become senior regional vice president of Harleysville Insurance and serve as the senior leader at Harleysville Insurance’s headquarters in Harleysville, Penn.

Browne has led Harleysville since 2004 and played a critical role in the strategic combination of Harleysville and Nationwide, a merger completed in 2012. He was elected non-executive chairman of Harleysville Mutual and its subsidiary Harleysville Group in 2003 and became president and CEO of Harleysville Mutual and CEO of Harleysville Group the following year. He has been serving as president and COO of Harleysville Insurance since the completion of his company’s merger with Nationwide.

Prior to joining Harleysville, Browne was an attorney at Philadelphia-based law firm Reed Smith. Browne also served as insurance commissioner of Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1983.

Chester McPherson has been appointed acting commissioner of the Washington, D.C., Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB).

McPherson succeeds William White, who was reportedly dismissed from his post after making statements questioning the White House’s proposal to let health insurers extend policies canceled under the healthcare reform law.

McPherson previously served as deputy commissioner of market operations at DISB. Before joining DISB in 2011, he was a legislative counsel with the D.C. Council.

The DISB press office declined to comment on White’s departure, saying that it’s city policy not to comment on personnel matters.

Darlene Price Wells has been named executive vice president and general manager of the Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance and CEO of Countryway Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance.

Wells has more than 25 years of experience in the property/casualty insurance industry. After starting her insurance career at Aetna Life and Casualty, she spent six years at the Virginia Bureau of Insurance as a market conduct examiner. She joined Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance in 1995 in the company’s underwriting department and was named department director in 1998. She was promoted to senior vice president of operations in 2009.

Johnston, R.I.-based FM Global appointed Randall Schreitmueller as vice president, manager of broker relations, a newly created position at the company.

He brings to the role more than 35 years of operational and staff experience with FM Global. Prior to his current position he was vice president and manager of global services and market relationships. Schreitmueller first joined FM Global in 1977.

New York-based brokerage Crystal & Co. named Charles Williamson as executive vice president of field operations and corporate development.

Williamson will join the firm’s executive committee and lead the growth and development of the firm’s national branch operations. He brings to his new role more than 20 years of expertise and industry knowledge from his career at American International Group. Prior to joining Crystal & Co., he was president of Consumer Insurance Americas at AIG.