DS News - Bank of America

58 C O V E R S T O R Y / A L Y J . Y A L E Seven years might not seem all that long a tenure in the corporate world, but in the land of political appointees, Ted Tozer's near-decade at the helm of Ginnie Mae was a true anomaly. Tozer was appointed President of Ginnie Mae, the HUD agency that brings capital to government-funded lending programs like FHA, VA, and RHA, by President Barack Obama in 2009 and confirmed by the Senate in early 2010. He stepped down from the office in January—nearly seven full years after he assumed the post. In a world where most appointees only last one to two years at most, Tozer's tenure was certainly a momentous one—both for its timespan and because of the accomplishments it included, domestic and abroad. NOT YOUR AVERAGE APPOINTEE Tozer recognizes his tenure was a rarity, as do his colleagues, friends, and pretty much anyone who's ever come in contact with him— yet they're not surprised in the least. In fact, Jack Konyk, who worked at Ohio's National City Bank while Tozer was heading up National City Mortgage Company, calls Tozer an "interesting study in terms of governmental positions." "It was unusual to see anybody stay that long in that kind of a position, but it made perfect sense for Ted because he was the perfect guy for the role," said Konyk, now the Executive Director of Government Affairs at Weiner Brodsky Kider PC. "Ted's the most completely, totally qualified president Ginnie's ever had, because of his in-depth knowledge of the details of its daily operations." Garry Cipponeri, who got to know Tozer well decades ago through various industry events and organizations while working for CitiMortgage, says Tozer simply wasn't what Washington was used to. THE END OF AN ERA

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