Washington Mutual Names Jim Gorzalski to Head Strategic Sourcing

Gorzalski, 44, will oversee all aspects of strategic sourcing,including purchasing and contract services for Washington Mutual. Hejoined the company on May 23 and reports to Benson Porter, chiefadministrative officer and executive vice president.

"Jim has outstanding leadership qualities and a proven trackrecord with global firms, which will help inspire innovation andstrengthen our companywide focus on driving value-added relationshipswith our vendor partners," Porter said. "Jim's leadership style alsofits very well with the WaMu culture."

Prior to joining Washington Mutual, Gorzalski was vice presidentof Global Procurement for Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc. for thepast five years. He was responsible for implementing and leading theglobal procurement organization, which leveraged Nacco's globalpresence. His accomplishments included developing a world-classSupplier Quality Engineering (SQE) organization which led aninitiative to procure goods and services from emerging internationalmarkets. Gorzalski previously held procurement and purchasing roleswith Clark Material Handling Company (1999-2000), Toyota MotorCorporation (1990-1999), and Ford Motor Company (1986-1990).

Gorzalski graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor'sdegree in Marketing and an MBA.

About Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual is one of the nation's leading consumer andsmall business banks. At March 31, 2006, Washington Mutual and itssubsidiaries had assets of $348.67 billion. The company wasestablished in 1889 and currently operates more than 2,600 consumerand small business banking stores throughout the nation. WashingtonMutual's press releases are available at www.wamunewsroom.com.