J. Harold Chandler

The current COO of Univers Workplace Benefits and a former president, CEO and chairman of disability insurance provider Unum Provident. In 1993, Chandler became president and CEO of Provident Life and Accident Company of America. Provident was doing poorly, but Chandler helped return the company to profitability through changes such as the acquisitions of the Paul Revere Corporation and Genex.

Chandler also led a 1999 merger with another insurance company, Unum Corporation, to form Unum Provident. He became COO, then CEO, of the new company. He was fired in 2003 after the company experienced bad publicity over numerous customer complaints and negative financial results.

Born in South Carolina in 1949, Chandler earned his undergraduate degree from Wofford College and his MBA from the South Carolina Graduate School of Business Administration. Upon completing his MBA, he went to work for Citizens and Southern National Bank. When it merged with Sovran Corp. in 1990, he became executive vice president of corporate marketing of the new company, C&S/Sovran. Chandler also attended Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.