Ms. Chao, 59, was the nation s 24th Secretary of Labor from 2001 to 2009, and the first Asian Pacific American woman in our country s history to be appointed to the President s cabinet. From 1996 to 2001, and presently, Ms. Chao was and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, an educational and research organization based in Washington, D.C. From 1992 to 1996, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America where she restored public trust and confidence to an organization tarnished by scandal. From 1991 to 1992, she served as Director of the Peace Corps. From 1989 to 1991, she was the Deputy Secretary of Transportation, the second in charge of a department with a budget of $30 billion and workforce of 110,000. Prior to that, she worked as Vice President of syndications at BankAmerica Capital Markets Group and Citicorp. Ms. Chao serves as a director of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) and of Protective Life Corporation (NYSE: PL), both since 2011. Ms. Chao previously served on the Board of Directors of Dole from 1993 to 2001. She previously served on the Boards of Northwest Airlines, National Association of Security Dealers, Raymond James Financial, and C.R. Bard. Ms. Chao is Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Dole s Board of Directors, and she also serves on its Corporate Compensation and Benefits Committee. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Board of Directors believe that Ms. Chao s vast experience as the leader of many large scale organizations allows her to provide great insight into the effectiveness of a company such as Dole with operations around the world. Ms. Chao also brings a very diverse background to the Board. Not only has she held leadership positions in the finance industry, but she has also achieved great success as a leader in both the public service and charitable sectors. Ms. Chao s experience as Secretary of Labor also gives the Board an important perspective on workforce issues, an invaluable asset for a company with approximately 34,500 full-time permanent employees and 36,600 full-time seasonal or temporary employees worldwide. Because the Company has frequent interactions with governments, on both the local and national level, having a director with such high-level, extensive experience in government gives the Board unique insight on these matters that it would not otherwise have. Ms. Chao also has experience as a public company director.