Downers Grove, IL, May 16, 2006--ServiceMaster Co., said that its chairman and chief executive, Jonathan Ward, has resigned.
ServiceMaster said board member J. Patrick Spainhour has agreed to serve as interim chairman and CEO, effective immediately.
Spainhour is the former chairman and chief executive of Ann Taylor Stores Corp., and currently serves as a director of Circuit City Stores Inc., and of Tupperware Corp.
ServiceMaster said Ward would work with Spainhour on the transition, and the company said the board would start a search among internal and external candidates for a new permanent CEO.
The company did not say, in its statement, why Ward resigned, and a spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
