NEW YORK , June 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a historic
milestone for William H. Sadlier, Inc. (OTCPNK: SADL), the 185-year-old publisher of religious and
academic educational materials announced today that Chairman Frank Sadlier Dinger and President
William Sadlier Dinger, brothers who have shared leadership of the family company since 1991,
would take new roles as Chairman & Special Adviser and President Emeritus & Special Adviser, respectively, effective
June 30. Both will continue as members of the Sadlier Board of Directors.
Sadlier also announced the appointment of the Company's current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer,
Raymond D. Fagan, as the Company's new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective
June 30, 2017. Mr. Fagan, who joined the Company in 2012, previously held senior executive
positions with Dun & Bradstreet, Harcourt Education Group, Interpublic Group and The Thomson Corporation.
Frank Sadlier Dinger and William Sadlier Dinger, known to
all as Ding and Bill, are the great-grandsons of Company namesake William H. Sadlier and direct
descendants of Denis and James Sadlier, Irish immigrants who in 1832 founded the religious
publishing business that grew into today's company. Younger brother Bill joined Sadlier first, in August
1963. Ding followed in June 1964, after completing service in the U.S. Army. At the time
that both men joined, their father, F. Sadlier Dinger, served as Chairman of the Board.
"Sadlier has always been a family business, and today's announcement does nothing to change that," Ding said. "It has
long been our tradition to strengthen the Company with talent from outside the family. In his five years with us, Ray Fagan has proven that he has the financial acumen, publishing experience and leadership skills to take us
forward without a hitch."
"We are proud to turn the reins over to Ray, another University of Notre Dame graduate like
Ding and me," Bill said. He added: "Ding and I intend to remain active as Board members and advisers. Moreover, the next
generation of our family is well represented in top management by Ding's daughters, Angela Dinger,
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and Melissa Gibbons, Director of Customer Service, and by
my son, Bill Junior, Group Vice President."
"Continuity has been a key to Sadlier's amazing record of publishing success," Ray Fagan
said. "I am honored to have the opportunity to extend that tradition, and I plan to take full advantage of Ding and Bill's wisdom
as advisers."
Both Dinger brothers have been recognized as leaders in educational publishing by the Association of Educational
Publishers (AEP) and have been inducted into the association's prestigious Hall of Fame for their lifetime of achievement,
commitment and dedication to education.
During their tenure, the Company expanded its product offerings to schools to include phonics and grammar, along with
mathematics and vocabulary programs. The Company, long recognized as a leader in the field of religious education, was the first
catechetical publisher to provide bilingual religious educational materials for the emerging Latino population. The brothers also
presided over the launch of Sadlier's multimedia and online publishing efforts, including innovative products such as
Vocabulary Workshop Interactive. A hallmark of their tenure was the prudent management that allowed the Company to extend
its record of weathering economic downturns, wars and other external crises with its stability and financial strength
intact.
Mr. Fagan comes to his new position with more than 25 years of media and information industry experience, most recently
with the business-research firm Dun & Bradstreet, where he was Chief Financial Officer for North
America. Before that, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the international academic publisher
Harcourt Education Group.
Sadlier is in the process of recruiting a successor to Mr. Fagan as Chief Financial Officer.
About Sadlier
William H. Sadlier, Inc. is a nationally recognized publisher of print and
digital educational materials for PreK-12 public and private schools, and catechetical materials for Catholic schools, parishes,
and families. Publishing since 1832, Sadlier is known for its tradition of quality and sound catechetical instruction. Sadlier
School programs offer strong instructional support, well related to standards, so that educators can help students reach their
full potential – in school and throughout life. Visit www.sadlier.com .
CONTACT: Melissa Dinger Gibbons, 212-312-6142, mgibbons@sadlier.com
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SOURCE William H. Sadlier, Inc.