American Greetings Announces Four Executive Management Promotions

 
    CLEVELAND, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- American Greetings (Nasdaq: AGREA) has
filled one senior vice president and three vice president officer positions
from within the organization.  Newly promoted are:

    Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis, 43, to Senior Vice President--International
Operations, from Group Managing Director--Asia/Pacific.
    Corrigan-Davis will lead the company's rapidly expanding international
presence by focusing on deploying American Greetings competitive advantages
into the international market place.  These include expertise in business
development, retail performance and space productivity.
    She brings to her position more than 20 years of American Greetings
experience, including a keen awareness of the special challenges of operating
in an overseas market.  This is a unique perspective which will benefit the
international subsidiaries and licensees of American Greetings.  Most recently
under her direction as Group Managing Director--Asia/Pacific, John Sands,
Australia and New Zealand's leading greeting card manufacturer and the largest
international subsidiary of American Greetings, began its first year in the
American Greetings family by exceeding its profit plan.
    Reporting to Corrigan-Davis are:  International Operations; Global
Licensing; Carlton France; Carlton Mexico; S.A. Greetings, South Africa;
Memory Lane, Malaysia and John Sands, Australia and New Zealand.
    She will return to the company's World Headquarters in Cleveland, from
Melbourne, in June 1997, along with her husband, Ed Davis, a long-time
American Greetings sales manager who most recently served the sales
organization with John Sands.
    Corrigan-Davis earned a master of science degree in management from Case
Western Reserve University.  She also earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1975
from John Carroll University, Cleveland.  And, she studied at the Sorbonne in
Paris.
    Prior to her relocation to Australia, Corrigan-Davis was a member of the
John Carroll University Alumni Board of Trustees and the St. Joseph Academy
Board of Trustees.  She reports to President and Chief Operating Officer Ed
Fruchtenbaum.
    Corrigan-Davis and her husband will reside in Rocky River, Ohio.

    David Beittel, 49, to Vice President--Creative, from Executive Director--
Product Management.
    In his new role, Beittel will focus on product development and innovation.
He brings to his new position several years of American Greetings experience
in the product management area as well as the creative and visual design areas
of the company's specialty card shop subsidiary, Carlton Cards Retail, Inc.
Prior to joining American Greetings in 1993, Beittel amassed 15 years of
external experience in the greeting card industry.
    He earned a master's degree of fine arts in theater management and
administration from the University of Georgia and bachelor's degrees in art
and English from Hobart and William Smith College, Geneva, New York.  He also
taught undergraduate and graduate courses and served for five years as
Assistant Dean at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
    As Vice President--Creative, Beittel will lead the company's dynamic
organization of artists, writers, planners and designers in setting a vision
and direction committed to freshness in current products; anticipating
consumer expectations for new products; and, enhancing the universal
recognition of the industry leadership position of American Greetings.  He
reports to Patricia Papesh, Senior Vice President--Product Development.
    Beittel resides in Westlake, Ohio.

    Brian McGrath, 46, to Vice President--Employee Services from Executive
Director--Employee Services.
    McGrath joined American Greetings in 1989 as Corporate Director, Labor
Relations and in 1993 was given additional responsibilities for compensation
administration.  He remained in that position until 1994, when he was promoted
to Executive Director, Employee Services.
    In his new role, McGrath will manage the company's benefits, compensation
and staffing programs.  He earned a Juris Doctorate in 1987 from Cleveland
Marshall Law School, Cleveland, Ohio; a master's degree in business
administration in 1979 from New York University and a bachelor's degree in
1972 from Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania.
    He is a member of the Industrial Relations Research Association and its
Northeast Ohio Chapter Board of Directors.  He reports to Harvey Levin, Senior
Vice President--Human Resources.
    McGrath and his wife, Carmen Paradis, reside in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

    Jeff Weiss, 33, to Vice President--Product Management, from Vice
President--Materials Management.
    In September 1996, Weiss was promoted to Vice President--Materials
Management.  Prior to his promotion last fall, Weiss was Executive Director--
Everyday Product Management.  He joined American Greetings in 1988 as a sales
representative and then took on and mastered a series of complex roles in the
product management area.
    In his new role, Weiss will be responsible for the marketing and
development of the U.S. Greeting Card Division's product lines.  He reports to
Patricia Papesh, Senior Vice President--Product Development.
    Weiss earned a master's degree in business administration in 1988 from the
Wharton School of Business and a bachelor of arts degree in 1985 from Yeshiva
University.  He is also Vice President of the Greeting Card Association and
Vice President of Bet Sefer Mizrachi.
    He and his wife, Karen, reside in Beachwood, Ohio with their three
children, Jacob, Dara and Laina.

    American Greetings is the world's largest publicly owned creator,
manufacturer and distributor of greeting cards and social expression products
sold in approximately 100,000 retail outlets in more than 75 countries
throughout the world.  The company, the preferred partner in mass retail
channels, is also a recognized global leader in the use of technology and
distribution logistics.  Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings
employs 21,000 associates, including one of the largest creative departments
in the world that drives more than $2.16 billion in sales.  For more
information about American Greetings, visit its Web site at
(http://www.americangreetings.com/).

SOURCE  American Greetings Corp.