A O Smith : Current named influential director by Savoy Magazine

Milwaukee, Wis.-Savoy Magazine has named Gloster B. Current, Jr., a member of the A. O. Smith Board of Directors as one of its 2017 Power 300: Most Influential Black Corporate Directors.

Current and the other 2017 recipients are featured in the Fall 2017 issue of the magazine. Current is one of 300 influential corporate directors serving on the boards of publicly held companies to receive the honor, each of whom is profiled in the fall issue of Savoy Magazine.

'We continue to be inspired by these accomplished executives, their distinguished careers, and the corporations that demonstrate inclusive board composition in Savoy,' L. P. Green, II, chief executive officer and publisher of Savoy Magazine, said in a press release announcing the 2017 recipients.

'Gloster is very deserving of this honor,' Ajita G. Rajendra, chairman and chief executive officer of A. O. Smith Corporation, observed. 'In his 10 years of service to A. O. Smith, the company and its board have benefited from his wide-ranging financial experience as well as his vast business knowledge.'

Current was elected to the A. O. Smith Board of Directors in July 2007 and serves on the Audit Committee.

He spent his entire career in the insurance and banking industries, retiring in 2009 from Northwestern Mutual of Milwaukee, Wis., as vice president-corporate affairs and assistant to the chief executive officer. He also held the positions of vice president-corporate planning, and vice president of the company's policy owner services department.

Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, Current was vice president and chief marketing officer for Lincoln Financial Group of Philadelphia, Pa. He also held senior management positions at Citibank, North America, R. J. Reynolds Foods, and Procter and Gamble.

Current earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Howard University, Washington, D.C., and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He served in the U.S. Army as a finance officer.