The Association of Corporate Counsel has elected Patricia Hatler as Chair of its Board of Directors at its 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston on Oct. 19. Hatler is executive vice president, chief legal and governance officer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. A member of ACC since 1986, she has served on the ACC Board since 2005.

Hatler joined Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company as general counsel in 1999 and became executive vice president, chief legal and governance officer in 2003. Previously general counsel and corporate secretary at Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia, her legal career also includes service with Dechert, Price and Rhoads, Fulbright and Jaworski, and Stinson, Mag and Fizzel. She is also a member of the Columbus Bar Association’s conference of Corporate General Counsels and has been a hearing committee officer for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board.

In addition, the ACC has also elected three new members to its board. Joining the 30-member board of the ACC this year are Sabine Chalmers, chief legal and communications officer for Anheuser-Busch; John Page, vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary for Golden State Foods; and Norman Wain, vice president of corporate legal affairs, and assistant general counsel for clothing and shoe supplier, The Finish Line. The newly elected members will serve a three-year term, ending October 2012.