Edward M. Smith
Chief Executive Officer, Ullico Inc.
On January 3, 2011, Edward M. Smith was elevated to chief executive officer of Ullico Inc. after serving as its president since May of 2008. Founded in 1927 as The Union Labor Life Insurance Company, today Ullico Inc. provides insurance and financial solutions for labor unions, union employers, union benefit funds and union members. Prior to becoming president, Mr. Smith served as Ullico Inc.’s executive vice president from January 2007 until May 2008.
Before joining Ullico, Smith had a long and distinguishing career at the Laborers' International Union of North America before retirement. He was elected business manager of Laborer's Local 773 at age twenty-one. Smith later became International Union vice president and Midwest regional manager serving over 58,000 members. He also served as assistant to the general president.
Smith formerly served as chairman of the Illinois State Board of Investment, chairman of the National Alliance for Fair Contracting, and a member of the Illinois Department of Labor Advisory Board. He has also been a key benefactor to the Therapy Center in Carterville, Illinois. The Therapy Center is an organization that assists physically disabled children. Additionally, Smith served as a board member of the I Can Read Program, a program committed to helping children with reading and learning disabilities.
In addition to his current duties at Ullico, Smith also serves as a member of America's Agenda-Healthcare for All. He also sits on the board of American Rights at Work, a non-profit organization that advocates for the ability of workers to join unions.
He graduated from Shawnee College with an Associate of Arts Degree. In 1992, he received the college's first Outstanding Alumni Award. Smith was the first member of the Laborers' International Union to graduate from the National Labor College with a Bachelor's Degree. In 1978, Smith graduated from the Harvard University Trade Union Program.
Smith and his wife, Betty, reside in Alexandria, Virginia. He has two children, daughter Jordan and son Matt.
David J. Barra
Chief Financial Officer, Ullico Inc.
David J. Barra joined Ullico Inc. as Chief Financial Officer in March 2008. He brings more than 30 years of senior financial management experience with a proven track record of success in all aspects of the corporate finance and accounting sectors.
Mr. Barra joined Ullico from Conseco, Inc. where he held various senior financial positions. Prior to joining Conseco, Barra served as Senior Audit Manager with Price Waterhouse (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers). Barra’s extensive experience includes financial accounting and reporting, financial projections, strategy planning, budgeting, acquisitions, financial systems, internal audit, investments, treasury, actuarial and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois.
Herbert A. Kolben
Senior Vice President, Real Estate Investment Group, The Union Labor Life Insurance Company
In his time at Ullico, Herbert “Herb” Kolben, Senior Vice President and Chief Real Estate Investment Officer for the Real Estate Investment Group, has overseen the growth of the department from $500 million in 1993 to more than $3 billion today.
Mr. Kolben has more than 35 years of real estate experience. Prior to joining Ullico, he served for several years as senior vice president at MNC Financial Inc. (which was acquired by Bank of America) in Washington, D.C. where he oversaw a $1.9 billion workout (securities) portfolio. Mr. Kolben began his career with First Mortgage Investors REIT in Miami, followed by more than a dozen years as a vice president and senior credit officer with Citibank N.A.
Nationally recognized for his real estate knowledge, Mr. Kolben is a frequent speaker at real estate conferences. Additionally, he is a member of several professional organizations, including the Urban Land Institute, International Council of Shopping Centers and the Pension Real Estate Association.
Mr. Kolben resides in Bethesda, Maryland and is married with two adult daughters. The union movement is in his blood; his father was a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and his mother was a union cashier. Mr. Kolben holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters in Business Administration from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Christine LaPaille
Vice President, Chief Communications Officer, Ullico Inc.
Christine LaPaille joined Ullico Inc. as Vice President, Chief Communications Officer in February 2012. As Chief Communications Officer, she oversees the Corporate Communications and Marketing Department, and is responsible for the strategic communications activities of the company. Prior to joining Ullico, Christine served as Vice President for University Relations at George Mason University since 2005, and was responsible for internal and external strategic communications for the university. She managed seven departments, including Media and Public Relations, Events Management, Community Relations, Creative Services, Web Communications, and University Information.
Prior to joining Mason, she was the director of the Office of Communications for the National Governor’s Association (NGA) for five years. In her capacity as chief communications officer, she worked with nation’s governors and their executive staff to develop and implement strategies to support NGA’s federal legislative priorities and research initiatives. She served as the association’s chief spokesperson and was responsible for generating national, state, and local news coverage for the association. Prior to re-locating to Washington, LaPaille spent 10 years as President of Agenda Communications, a Chicago-based public affairs firm. The firm won numerous awards for public relations campaigns on behalf of clients that included associations, Fortune 500 corporations and not-for-profit institutions.
Before she started her company, LaPaille worked for the Illinois legislature, serving as Chief of Staff to the House Minority Leader. She began her career as a reporter, working for the Chicago Tribune and WLS-TV in Chicago.
LaPaille lives in Potomac, Maryland with her husband Gary, and their three children.
Joseph R. Linehan
President, Ullico Investment Advisors Inc.
Joseph R. Linehan has been an integral member of the Ullico family of companies since 1984 when he joined the company as a Group Life and Health Underwriter. Since then, Mr. Linehan has held a number of investment management positions with increasing responsibility over his nearly 30 years with the company, including Security Analyst and Money Market Trader. Most recently he served as Vice President responsible for the fixed income and private equity portfolios of the company, managing approximately $600 million in assets.
Mr. Linehan serves as President of Ullico Investment Company Inc. (UIC) where he oversees broker-dealer activities of the company and its sister divisions, as well as a Trustee of the Ullico Defined Benefit and Contribution Plans. In addition to his current duties as President of UIC, Mr. Linehan was named President of Ullico Investment Advisors Inc. (UIA) in August 2011. In this role, he is responsible for managing the Investment Services division for Ullico Inc. and for overseeing the investment operations of UIA, including the monitoring and selection of sub-advisors for third party assets.
Mr. Linehan earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and his MBA in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park. He holds the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) designations of General Securities Principal (Series 24), General Securities Representative (Series 7), Limited Representative – Investment Banking (Series 79) and Agent (Series 63).
A Washington, D.C. native, Mr. Linehan currently resides in Rockville, Maryland with his wife and three sons.
Patrick McGlone
Sr. V.P., General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Ullico Inc.
Patrick McGlone joined Ullico Inc.’s Law Department in 2002, where he was charged with overseeing the company’s litigation matters. His responsibilities later expanded into many other areas, including insurance, commercial, and employment law, ERISA and compliance issues. In 2008, Mr. McGlone was promoted to Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. He was appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel in February 2012.
Before coming to Ullico, Mr. McGlone had been in-house counsel at U.S. Office Products, Inc. and Mobil Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was a commercial litigator at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the law firm of Hunton & Williams LLP.
McGlone is active in the American Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar. He is Vice President of the Council for Court Excellence, a non-partisan civic organization dedicated to improving the District of Columbia’s justice system, and sits on the Board of Directors of Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc., a non-profit that provides HIV/AIDS testing, prevention and counseling services to Washington, DC’s African American community. In 2001, he received the Us Helping Us Chairman’s Award. In 2011, Mr. McGlone received the Outstanding Community Service Award of the Washington Metro Area Corporate Counsel Association.
Mr. McGlone is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School (with High Honors) in Washington, DC and Fordham College (summa cum laude) in New York City. He is the proud son of a longtime Teamsters shop steward and the brother of two trade union members.
Daniel L. Wolak
President, The Union Labor Life Insurance Company
Daniel L. Wolak has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. After serving as Acting President for 9 months, he was promoted to President of The Union Labor Life Insurance Company (Union Labor Life) in August 2011, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization, including expanding distribution of existing services and identifying growth opportunities.
Prior to his role as President, Mr. Wolak served as Vice President and Chief Actuary of Union Labor Life for three years. He was responsible for Group Life & Health services, direct marketing pricing, underwriting, product strategies and financial performance. One of his main focuses was to understand the ramifications of the healthcare reform legislation on the company’s signature Medical Stop Loss business, and suggest actions and strategies for the organization to pursue on this front.
Before joining Union Labor Life, Mr. Wolak served as Senior Vice President of Group Reinsurance at General Re Life Corporation located in Stamford, Connecticut. He was also Vice President and Group Actuary of American United Life Insurance Company of Indianapolis, Indiana. His responsibilities at both companies included management of the Group Life and Medical Stop Loss businesses.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Wolak was the Director of Group Product Development for the Ohio National Life Insurance Company, and served as an Actuarial Associate in the group practice at Chicago-based insurance provider, CNA.
Mr. Wolak is a Certified Life Underwriter (CLU), a Fellow, Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). In addition to these certifications, he is a current member of the Actuarial Advisory Council for Purdue University. He previously served a three-year term on the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Health Section Council, including one year as the Chairperson. Mr. Wolak has frequently been a speaker at SOA meetings as well as an active contributor of articles for a variety of industry-leading publications.
Mr. Wolak earned both his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Statistics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
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Management Team
Ullico’s experienced management team provides a blend of extensive business expertise with deep knowledge and understanding of unions and their challenges. Fiercely passionate about our labor clients, leadership at Ullico is committed to developing innovative financial & risk solutions and delivering value to clients.
