CLEVELAND, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Estates Realty Corporation (NYSE, NASDAQ: AEC) announced today that James Sanfilippo has been named to its board of directors, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of James Delaney.  Mr. Delaney's retirement was consistent with the retirement policy contained in the Company's corporate governance guidelines. 

"Jim Delaney's strong accounting skills and great human qualities have been a source of support to the board and me for the past thirteen years," said Jeffrey I. Friedman, president and chief executive officer.  "As Mr. Delaney reached our mandatory retirement age, the U.S. economy was in a tailspin and he agreed to stay on until conditions improved.  He played an important role in finding his replacement.  We sincerely appreciate his dedication and hard work as a member of our board, various committees and in his role as chairman of the audit committee," Friedman continued.

Jim Sanfilippo joins the Associated Estates' board following a thirty-six year career at Grant Thornton, LLP.  He spent twenty-six years as an audit partner and nineteen of those years as the managing partner of the Cleveland, OH office of Grant Thornton. He retired from the firm on July 31, 2009, and continued in a consulting capacity for two years following his retirement.  Mr. Sanfilippo's areas of focus included advising both publicly traded and private companies on accounting and auditing matters as well as Sarbanes Oxley 404 compliance. In addition to joining the Company's board, Mr. Sanfilippo was appointed chairman of the Company's audit committee.   

Mr. Sanfilippo and his family live in Greater Cleveland, where he is involved in various professional and community activities, including being a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants.  He also serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the Department of Accounting for Kent State University and the Development Board for Chanel High School.  "We welcome Jim to the board," said Friedman.  "We are fortunate that someone with Jim's breadth of public accounting experience will be joining our board and taking over as chair of the audit committee," Friedman continued.

Associated Estates is a real estate investment trust ("REIT") and is a member of the Russell 2000 and the MSCI US REIT Indices.  The Company is headquartered in Richmond Heights, Ohio.  Associated Estates' portfolio consists of 53 properties containing 13,908 units located in eight states.  For more information about the Company, please visit its website at AssociatedEstates.com.

For more information, please contact:

Jeremy Goldberg
(216) 797-8715

SOURCE Associated Estates Realty Corporation

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