A long-time Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company employee will be the insurer's next chief executive.

Roger W. Crandall, who has worked at MassMutual for more than 20 years, will be the new CEO of its board of directors effective January 1, 2010. Current CEO Stuart H. Reese will step down from that position and assume the role of non-executive chairman of the board.

Crandall, 44, has served as president and chief operating officer of MassMutual since December 2008. He will remain president of the Springfield-based company when he assumes the CEO position next year.

"Roger has consistently demonstrated his leadership throughout his 22-year career at MassMutual, and the board has complete confidence that he is the right person to lead the company into the future," Reese said.

As president of MassMutual, Crandall has had responsibility for the oversight of the company's U.S. Insurance Group, Enterprise Technology Organization, MassMutual's Retirement businesses, and MassMutual subsidiaries MassMutual International LLC, Babson Capital Management LLC, and Baring Asset Management Limited.

Since joining MassMutual in 1988, Crandall has held several leadership positions in the firm, including head of Corporate Bond Management, Public Bond Trading, and Institutional Fixed Income. He served as MassMutual's chief investment officer and Babson Capital's chairman from June 2005 to November 2008. He was named president and CEO of Babson Capital Management LLC in March 2006.

Crandall holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Vermont and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He is a member of the CFA Institute.