Leopold Retires as Chairman of Crown Vantage

Ernest Leopold, 65, who has served as chairman of the board of Crown Vantage Inc. since its incorporation in 1995, has retired. In recognition of his long and dedicated service, the board officially recognized Leopold as "chairman emeritus." He will continue to serve on the board through the end of his term and has decided not to seek re-election.

Elected non-executive chairman was George James, 61, who recently retired as senior VP and CFO of Levi Strauss & Co. A San Francisco resident, he has been a Crown Vantage director since 1995.

Day-to-day management of the company remains with Robert Olah, president and CEO, who was elected to that position in September 1998 under a transitional succession plan as the company prepared for Leopold's retirement.

Leopold began his career in the paper industry with Crown Zellerbach in 1957. He rose to senior VP of the communication papers division before the company was acquired by James River Corp. in 1986. He remained with James River and was executive VP for communication papers prior to that company's decision in 1995 to spin off 11 of its mills into the new, publicly traded company, Crown Vantage.

Prior to joining Levi Strauss in 1985, James was CFO and group president of Crown Zellerbach and CFO of Arcata Corp. He is also a director of Basic Vegetable Products, Clayton Acquisition Group, and Redem Corp.

Crown Vantage owns and operates pulp and paper mills in the U.S. and Scotland, marketing a broad range of specialized papers for printing, publishing, and packaging applications.