Washington Mutual Names Jim Gorzalski to Head Strategic Sourcing

Business Wire, June 1, 2006

SEATTLE -- Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM) announced today that procurement veteran Jim Gorzalski has been hired as senior vice president and division executive for Strategic Sourcing.

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

"Jim has outstanding leadership qualities and a proven track record with global firms, which will help inspire innovation and strengthen our companywide focus on driving value-added relationships with our vendor partners," Porter said. "Jim's leadership style also fits very well with the WaMu culture."

Prior to joining Washington Mutual, Gorzalski was vice president of Global Procurement for Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc. for the past five years. He was responsible for implementing and leading the global procurement organization, which leveraged Nacco's global presence. His accomplishments included developing a world-class Supplier Quality Engineering (SQE) organization which led an initiative to procure goods and services from emerging international markets. Gorzalski previously held procurement and purchasing roles with Clark Material Handling Company (1999-2000), Toyota Motor Corporation (1990-1999), and Ford Motor Company (1986-1990).

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

About Washington Mutual

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