SKIP TO SITE NAVIGATION | SWITCH TO GRAPHICAL VERSION
First Union's Top Training Executive Wins Corporation's Top Award CHARLOTTE - Kathryn Heath, First Union's senior vice president and director of First University, has been honored with the company's highest company-wide award - the 10th Legion Award - for exceptional leadership and excellence. The award was presented during the company's annual Senior Leadership Conference, Sept. 23-24, where more than 700 First Union senior executives attended. Heath led the creation of First University, the company's award-winning corporate training and development division. First University employs more than 400 training professionals who design training programs, develop courses and facilitate training sessions for First Union's 70,000 employees. While classroom training remains an important focus for First University, Heath has led a strategic shift to providing learning through a broad range of multimedia channels. Teller training, for example, used to take 10 full days and now requires only five days, thanks to First University's new CD-ROM-based training program. Under Heath's leadership last year, First University delivered a record 3.5 million training hours, including the merger training for employees from CoreStates, Wheat First Union, Signet, Covenant and The Money Store. Heath is the 10th recipient of the corporation's prestigious award, which symbolizes excellence in all aspects of a career, dedication beyond expectation, innovation, commitment and selfless giving to family and community. She was selected from nominees throughout the company. "This award is the result of many years of dedication, innovation and commitment to excellence that Kathryn brings to everyone at First Union," said Ed Crutchfield, First Union Corporation chairman and chief executive officer. "A long list of Kathryn's team members and employees speak eloquently about her integrity, her ability to motivate and inspire, and her genuine caring for every member at every level of the team." Heath joined First Union in 1988 as a member of the Management and Leadership Development team within the Training and Development Department. After only one year with the company, Heath became the head of the group. She continued to develop the department until a 1994 reorganization of the Human Resources Division led to the development of First University, of which Heath was named director. First University has since been held up as a model training program. This year, First University was honored internationally as one of seven corporate training programs by the Corporate University Xchange. A native of Charlotte, N.C., Heath earned a master's degree in counseling as well as a Ph.D. in child development and family relations. Active in the Charlotte community, she serves on the boards of the Museum of the New South, Johnson C. Smith University Board of Visitors and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work. In 1998, Heath was appointed to the North Carolina Social Services Commission. The Tenth Legion Award is named for the Roman Empire's Tenth Legion, whose members' reputation for excellence was legendary. Stationed in the frontiers of the empire, the soldiers of the Tenth Legion were known as the "best-of-the-best." Charlotte-based First Union Corporation (NYSE:FTU) is the nation's sixth largest bank holding company and eighth largest brokerage company, based on assets of $230 billion as of June 30, 1999. The company provides financial services to more than 16 million customers in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Washington, D.C. |
About Wachovia