February 4, 2004

Sacramento, CA – The Board of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System elected officers for the 2004 term during its regularly scheduled meeting today, February 4, 2004, at CalSTRS’s headquarters in Sacramento.

The Teachers’ Retirement Board members nominate and elect their own Chair and Vice-Chair each February; the officer positions are for one year’s duration, although the members’ terms are for a total of four years. The 2004 officers are:

• Gary Lynes, a math and science teacher in the Hillsborough City School District, as Chair. In December 2003, Lynes was among the first three members ever elected to the Board by a vote of current California educators. He was a CalSTRS board member when elections were held and served as chair in 2003. He has also previously served as chair of the Investment Committee.
  
  
• Carolyn Widener, an English professor at West Los Angeles College, as Vice-Chair. Like Lynes, Widener was a board member prior to the November 2003 vote, and she too was one of the first members in CalSTRS history to be chosen by a vote of the pension fund’s membership. She represents community college faculty and staff, and has previously served as the chair of the Health Benefits Committee.

Lynes and Wideners’ terms in office began January 1, 2004; their roles as Chair and Vice-Chair are effective immediately.

CalSTRS, with a $113 billion portfolio, is the nation’s third largest public pension fund. It administers retirement, disability and survivor benefits for California’s public school educators in grades kindergarten through community college, serving more than 735,000 members and benefit recipients.