Mortgage Vets Join New Century Board

William J. Popejoy, a former president of Freddie Mac, and Donald E. Lange, a former president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, have been appointed to the board of directors of New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., increasing the size of the board to nine members.Mr. Popejoy, 64, is chief executive officer of Pacific Capital Investors and serves as a trustee of PIMCO Funds that manage $200 billion in assets, New Century said. He was previously president and CEO of several publicly traded companies, including Freddie Mac; chairman and CEO of American Savings and its parent, Financial Corp. of America; and CEO of both Far West Savings and Financial Federation. Mr. Lange, 57, a certified mortgage banker, is president and CEO of Pacific Financial Services, a mortgage banking and specialty finance company. He served as president of the MBA in 1999, and now serves on the MBA's Commercial Board of Governors.