Pa. commissioner resigns, to join insurer board

HARRISBURG, Pa.—Diane Koken has resigned, effective next Monday, from her post as Pennsylvania's longest-serving insurance commissioner to join the board of an unnamed national insurance company.

Ms. Koken voluntarily submitted her resignation Tuesday because she has accepted a nomination to the board of a national insurance company—which she did not identify—and expects to be elected in April. Ms. Koken stepped down to avoid potential conflicts of interest, according to a department spokeswoman.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell accepted Ms. Koken's resignation, although she will serve as a senior adviser to him before returning to the private sector in mid-March, the governor said in a statement.

Gov. Rendell has appointed Randolph Rohrbaugh, deputy commissioner of the department's Office of Insurance Product Regulation and Market Enforcement, as acting commissioner during the replacement search process, according to the statement.

Ms. Koken was appointed in August 1997 by former Gov. Tom Ridge, a Republican. She was reappointed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell—the first Pennsylvania commissioner to survive such a party change, she said previously in an interview.

Before becoming a regulator, Ms. Koken, who is an attorney, was employed as general counsel, vp and corporate secretary for Provident Mutual Insurance Co.

During her tenure as commissioner, Ms. Koken was elected president of the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners and served in that post in late 2004 and 2005. Subsequently, she was elected to lead the startup of the NAIC-originated Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission.