AOC Aon Corp.

Chief commercial officer for Aon EMEA to lead diversity efforts for region ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and CHICAGO, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC), the leading provider of global risk management services, today announced that John van der Steen, chief commercial officer for Aon EMEA, will lead the company's diversity efforts for the Europe-Middle East-Africa region. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO) Mr. van der Steen also will serve on Aon's global diversity advisory board, where he will join Randy Wada, chief executive officer of Aon Japan, who recently was chosen to lead the company's diversity initiatives for the Pacific Rim. Jane Owen, chief counsel for Aon U.K., also joined the advisory board after she was named to lead the company's U.K. diversity strategy late last year. "I am delighted that John van der Steen has agreed to head up Aon's diversity programme for EMEA," said Roelof Hendriks, chief executive officer of Aon EMEA. "Supporting corporate diversity makes an essential contribution to Aon's success. It is at the heart of our business. In his role as our chief commercial officer, John is ideally placed to use his leadership and expertise to help Aon recruit, nurture and develop a highly talented and diverse workforce for the EMEA region." John van der Steen joined Aon in 2001 as vice chairman of Aon Group Netherlands and chairman and chief executive officer of Aon Risk Services Netherlands. He was named chairman and chief executive officer of Aon Group Netherlands in 2002, chairman of Aon Risk Services Continental Europe in May 2005 and chief commercial officer for Aon EMEA in 2006. An alumnus of IMD Lausanne, John joined Aon from ING Bank where he held various senior management positions, including chairman of ING Bank Rotterdam. "John brings two critical perspectives to our global strategy: that of our customers and of this region of the world with the greatest diversity of culture and politics," said Corbette Doyle, Aon's chief diversity officer. "With his appointment, we now have an executive with responsibility for diversity and inclusion situated everywhere in the world." Aon's goal for its global diversity initiative is to create a world-class magnet for talent that nurtures the background, skills and creativity of the company's 43,000 colleagues around the world. Since 2006 Aon has launched two global metrics for measuring success on its diversity objectives -- more women in senior management positions within the company, and four regionalized diversity strategies -- with the objective of embracing the client needs and talent imperatives of each community served by Aon, and to cascade these strategies from the executive level all the way down to the newest employee. Aon's diversity and inclusion goals focus on continued improvement by hiring the best, building the best and being the best. Aon was named by The Human Rights Commission Foundation as one of 195 major U.S. businesses to receive a 100 percent rating in the Foundation's 2007 Corporate Equality Index. The Index rates employers on a scale from 0 to 100 on their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. Aon's rating can be found on the Human Rights Campaign website at http://www.hrc.org/cei. About Aon Corporation Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. Through its 43,000 professionals worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Our industry-leading global resources, technical expertise and industry knowledge are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Aon was ranked by A.M. Best as the number one global insurance brokerage in 2007 based on brokerage revenues, and voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary, and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007 by the readers of Business Insurance. For more information on Aon, log onto http://www.aon.com/. Media Contacts CHICAGO LONDON David Prosperi James White 312.381.2485 +44 (0)20 7086 0067 http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT: Chicago, David Prosperi, +1-312-381-2485, , or London, James White, +44 (0)20 7086 0067, , both of Aon Corporation Web site: http://www.aon.com/ http://www.hrc.org/cei

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