Fifth Third chairman and other board members to step down

Fifth Third Bancorp's non-executive board Chairman, James Hackett, is to step down "to pursue other full time employment opportunities"; former CEO Kevin Kabat and Ulysses Bridgeman will also be retiring from the board.

The Enquirer

James Hackett, who has been Fifth Third Bancorp's non-executive board chairman since April 2014, is stepping down "to pursue other full time employment opportunities," the company said in a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Two other board members are also departing.

Hackett, the former president and CEO of furniture maker Steelcase, has served on the bank's board since 2011. The Fifth Third board will vote to reduce to decrease its size, so no vacancies will result from Hackett's retirement, the company said in the filing. The board currently has 14 members.

Hackett's retirement will be effected on April 19 – the date of the company's annual meeting. He was paid more than $450,000 a year, Bloomberg data shows.

Hackett, 60, is a native of London, Ohio, which is southwest of Columbus. He spent 31 years at Steelcase, where he was president for nearly 20 years. Most recently, he was the interim athletic director at the University of Michigan, where he had been the center on the football team as an undergraduate. Hackett, who also is a member of the Ford Motor Co.'s board, decided not to seek the AD job permanently, after serving 14 months as the interim leader.

Also stepping aside is Ulysses Bridgeman Jr., 61, who is the owner and president of B.F. Companies, which operates a number of Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburger restaurants and Chili’s restaurants.

Finally, former Fifth Third CEO Kevin Kabat is retiring from the board.