UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

PROXY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(A) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 (AMENDMENT NO.      )

Filed by the Registrant ☒

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☐

Check the appropriate box:

(as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))

Lincoln National Corporation

(Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

Radnor, Pennsylvania / April 14, 2017

DEAR FELLOW SHAREHOLDER:

You are invited to attend our 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, to be held Friday, May 26 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our Board of Directors and management team look forward to greeting you.

This document describes the matters to be voted on at the Annual Meeting, so please review it carefully.

Many shareholders received a notice of internet availability instead of paper copies of our proxy statement and our 2016 Annual Report to Shareholders. The notice of internet availability provides instructions on how to access these documents over the internet and how to receive a paper or email copy of our proxy materials, including our proxy statement, our 2016 Annual Report to Shareholders and a proxy card. Electronic delivery enables us to more cost-effectively provide you with the information you need while reducing the environmental impact of printing and mailing paper copies.

Please vote your shares of our stock as promptly as possible. You may vote by mailing in a proxy card, by telephone or internet, or by attending the Annual Meeting and voting in person.

On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

William H. Cunningham

Chairman of the Board

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

Mailing date: April 14, 2017

The purpose of the meeting is to:

1. elect ten Directors for a one-year term expiring at the 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders;

2. ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2017;

3. approve an advisory resolution on the compensation of our named executive officers;

4. respond to an advisory proposal regarding the frequency (every one, two or three years) of future advisory resolutions on the

    compensation of our named executive officers;

5. approve amendments to our restated articles of incorporation to remove supermajority voting standards applicable to the

    following provisions;

Item 5(a) – voting rights of preferred stock, prohibitions regarding shares of stock in our subsidiary and future amendments

                   to the bylaws

Item 5(b) – removal of directors;

Item 5(c) – certain business combinations; and

6. consider and vote upon any other matters that might come up at the meeting.

You may vote at the Annual Meeting if you were a shareholder of record at the close of business on March 20, 2017. Please cast your votes by one of the following methods:

SIGNING AND RETURNING	TOLL-FREE	TOLL-FREE		THE INTERNET		IN PERSON AT THE
A PROXY CARD	TELEPHONE	TELEPHONE				ANNUAL MEETING

If, going forward, you would like to receive electronic delivery of future proxy materials, please see page 7882 for more information.

For the Board of Directors,

Andrea D. Goodrich

Senior Vice President & Secretary

Lincoln National Corporation

Radnor, Pennsylvania

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON MAY 26, 2017: This proxy statement and the accompanying annual report are available at: www.proxydocs.com/lnc.

PROXY SUMMARY

This summary highlights certain information for your convenience. Since it does not contain all of the information you should consider, we encourage you to read the entire proxy statement carefully before voting.

ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS  

VOTING MATTERS  

BOARD OF DIRECTOR NOMINEES

BOARD OF DIRECTOR NOMINEES (cont’d.)

GOVERNANCE HIGHLIGHTS 

Sound governance is important to our Board, which regularly evaluates and implements policies that reflect corporate governance best practices. Some of these practices are:

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION HIGHLIGHTS

The key objectives of our executive compensation program are to:

We are asking you to cast an advisory, nonbinding vote to approve compensation awarded to our named executive officers (“NEOs”) — our chief executive officer (“CEO”), chief financial officer (“CFO”) and three additional most highly paid executive officers, as listed on page 30. At our last Annual Meeting, shareholders expressed strong support for our executive compensation programs, with 93% of votes cast in favor of the advisory resolution on executive compensation.

PAY FOR PERFORMANCE

We seek to align pay and performance by making a significant portion of our NEOs’ compensation dependent on:

2016 Pay Mix. NEO compensation is weighted toward variable compensation (annual and long-term incentives), which is at risk because the actual amounts earned could differ from targeted amounts based on corporate and individual performance. As the following charts show, the vast majority of our CEO’s and other NEOs’ target direct compensation for 2016 could vary significantly based on company performance, including stock-price performance.

Note, the amounts in these graphs are shown at target and therefore will not match the values reflected in the Summary Compensation Table on page 55. For additional details about our executive compensation programs and our NEOs’ fiscal year 2016 compensation, please see “Compensation Discussion & Analysis” beginning on page 30 and “Executive Compensation Tables” beginning on page 55.

Proxy Statement

ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS | MAY 26, 2017

The Board of Directors of Lincoln National Corporation (the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “Lincoln”) is soliciting proxies in connection with the proposals to be voted on at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which will be held beginning at 9:00 a.m. local time on Friday, May 26 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 10 Avenue of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102. This proxy statement and a proxy card or a notice of internet availability were sent to our shareholders on or about April 14. When we refer to the Meeting or the Annual Meeting, we are also referring to any meeting that results from an adjournment of the Annual Meeting.

GOVERNANCE OF THE COMPANY

Integrity, respect and responsibility are not just guiding principles for us. They unify and inspire us to help people to take charge of their lives. Our Board of Directors is responsible for directing and overseeing the management of the Company’s business in the best interests of the shareholders and consistent with good corporate citizenship. In carrying out its responsibilities, the Board provides oversight for the process of selecting and monitoring the performance of senior management, provides oversight for financial reporting and legal and regulatory compliance, determines the Company’s governance guidelines and implements its governance policies. The Board, together with management, is responsible for establishing our values and code of conduct and for setting strategic direction and priorities.

BOARD STRUCTURE AND LEADERSHIP

Our Board of Directors has ten members, nine of whom are non-employees, or outside directors. The Board has determined that all nine outside directors are independent, as discussed below. The Board may fill a director vacancy or reduce the size of the Board without shareholder approval.

The Board has no set policy requiring separation of the offices of CEO and Chairman of the Board (“Chairman”). It believes that the decision on whether or not to separate these roles should be part of the regular succession planning process and made based on the best interests of the Company.

Currently, we separate the roles of CEO and Chairman in recognition of the differences between these roles. The CEO is responsible for setting the Company’s performance and strategic direction and for day-to-day leadership, while the Chairman provides guidance to the CEO and management, consults on the agenda for Board meetings, acts as the key liaison between the Board and management, and presides over meetings of the full Board and of the independent directors. He also has the authority to call special meetings of the Board.

The Board elects the Chairman annually. William H. Cunningham, an independent director, has served as our Chairman since 2009.

BOARD’S ROLE IN RISK OVERSIGHT

Enterprise risk management is an integral part of our business processes. Senior management is primarily responsible for establishing policies and procedures designed to assess and manage the Company’s significant risks. We also have a Corporate Enterprise Risk and Capital Committee, made up of members of senior management and the Chief Risk Officer, which provides oversight of our enterprise-wide risk structure and of our processes to identify, measure, monitor and manage significant risks, including credit, market and operating risk.  The Board’s role is regular oversight of the overall risk management process, including reviews of operational, financial, legal/regulatory, compensation, strategic and competitive risks. The Board reviews the most significant risks the Company faces and the manner in which our executives manage these risks. The Board has also delegated certain of its risk oversight efforts to its Committees, as shown below. This structure enables the Board and its Committees to coordinate the risk oversight role, particularly with respect to risk interrelationships. We believe that the separation of the Chairman and CEO roles supports the Board’s oversight role.

OUR CORPORATE GOVERNANCE GUIDELINES

The Board’s Corporate Governance Guidelines provide a framework for effective corporate governance and set expectations for how the Board should perform its functions. The Guidelines include the following key principles:

The full texts of our Corporate Governance Guidelines and committee charters are available on our website at www.lfg.com.

DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Under the Corporate Governance Guidelines, a majority of our directors must at all times be “independent” and meet the NYSE listing standards regarding independence as incorporated in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. Among other things, these standards require the Board to determine that our independent directors have no material relationship with Lincoln other than as directors.

Applying these standards, the Corporate Governance Committee and the Board have reviewed the independence of each director and director nominee, and the Board has determined that:

In conducting its independence review, the Board will consider, among other things, transactions and relationships between each outside director (or any member of his or her immediate family) and us or our subsidiaries and affiliates. The Board takes into account that in the ordinary course of business, we conduct transactions with companies at which some of our directors are or have been directors, employees or officers. Transactions that are in the ordinary course of business on terms substantially equivalent to those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions, and that fall below the threshold levels set forth in our independence standards do not impact a director’s independence under our standards.

DIRECTOR NOMINATION PROCESS

Under our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Board is responsible for selecting its own members. The Corporate Governance Committee is charged with:

Although there are no specific minimum qualifications for director nominees, the Corporate Governance Committee’s charter allows the Committee to consider any factors it deems appropriate. The Committee reviews with the Board the appropriate skills and characteristics required of directors in the context of the Board’s current make-up. In addition to considering a candidate’s background, experience and professional accomplishments, the Board looks for individuals with, among other attributes, integrity, business acumen, specific skills (such as an understanding of marketing, finance, accounting, regulation and public policy) and a commitment to our shared values.

Our Board reflects a diverse, highly engaged group of directors with appropriate skills and varying backgrounds.  We have a rigorous board evaluation process that includes an annual self-assessment and peer review to foster the right mix of subject matter expertise, capabilities and perspectives. Our Board also takes a thoughtful approach to board refreshment with the intent to align directors’ skills with our company strategy. The Board regularly reviews the composition and qualifications of our directors. After a deliberate and inclusive process, Deirdre Connelly was elected as a new director during 2016, to fill the vacancy left by a retiring director.

Ms. Connelly’s experience and expertise is well-suited to our board and complements that of our other directors. The Board will continue to review its composition and structure, balancing the need for continuity and experience with fresh ideas and perspectives.

Although the Board does not have a formal diversity policy, our Corporate Governance Guidelines specify that the Corporate Governance Committee should consider diversity in the director identification and nomination process. As a result, the Committee seeks nominees with a broad diversity of backgrounds, experiences, professions, education and differences in viewpoints and skills. Its goal is to ensure that the directors, as a group, provide a substantive blend of experience, knowledge and ability that enables the Board to fulfill its responsibilities in a constructive and collegial environment. In the annual evaluation of the Board and committees, the Board considers whether the members of the Board reflect such diversity and whether such diversity contributes to a constructive and collegial environment.

The Corporate Governance Committee begins the nomination process each year by deciding whether to renominate current directors. This includes an individual assessment of each director who will be up for reelection the following year. The Committee then reviews the results of the individual director assessments. It considers for renomination those Board members whose skills and experience continue to be relevant to our business and whose performance for the most recent term has also been favorably assessed.

When identifying potential director candidates — whether to replace a director who has retired or resigned or to expand the Board to gain additional capabilities — the Committee determines the skills, experience and other characteristics that a potential nominee should possess (in light of the composition and needs of the Board and its committees, and including whether or not the nominee would be considered independent under the NYSE listing standards) and seeks candidates with those qualifications.

Although not required to do so, the Committee may consider candidates proposed by our directors or our management and may also retain an outside firm to help identify and evaluate potential nominees. The Committee will also consider nominations from shareholders. Such nominations must be submitted in writing to our Corporation Secretary at our principal executive office, and must include the same information that would be required for a candidate to be nominated by a shareholder at a meeting of shareholders as described under “General Information – Shareholder Proposals for the 2018 Annual Meeting” on page 82. Any such recommendation must be received by the Corporate Secretary no earlier than January 26, 2018, and not later than February 25, 2018.

If the Corporate Governance Committee determines that it should conduct a full evaluation of a prospective candidate, including an interview, one or more members of the Committee will do so, and other directors may be asked to interview the candidate as well. Upon completing the evaluation and the interview, the Committee recommends to the Board whether to nominate the individual.

The nominee evaluation process is the same whether the nomination comes from a Board member, management or a shareholder. If the Corporate Governance Committee recommends a shareholder nominee to the Board, the Board may— as with any nominee—either accept or reject the recommendation.

ANNUAL BOARD EVALUATION

Annually, the Board conducts a self-evaluation to determine whether it and its committees are functioning effectively. The Corporate Governance Committee oversees the Board evaluation process, which is designed to elicit feedback and recommendations from the directors that will improve the effectiveness of the Board. Each year the Committee reviews the overall process for the assessment as well as the substantive matters to be addressed during the evaluation. In general, the evaluation covers a variety of topics including the Company’s strategy, financial performance, risk management and succession planning. The results of the assessment are discussed with each Committee and the full Board following the compilation of the results.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH DIRECTORS

Shareholders and others who wish to communicate with the full Board or its outside (non-executive) directors may do so by sending a letter to either “The Board of Directors” or “The Outside Directors,” as appropriate, at our principal executive offices:

Lincoln National Corporation

Radnor, Pennsylvania

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON MAY 26, 2017: This proxy statement and the accompanying annual report are available at:www.proxydocs.com/lnc.

PROXY SUMMARY

This summary highlights certain information for your convenience. Since it does not contain all of the information you should consider, we encourage you to read the entire proxy statement carefully before voting.

ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

VOTING MATTERS

- 1 -

BOARD OF DIRECTOR NOMINEES

- 2 -

BOARD OF DIRECTOR NOMINEES (CONT’D.)

GOVERNANCE HIGHLIGHTS

Sound governance is important to our Board, which regularly evaluates and implements policies that reflect corporate governance best practices. Some of these practices are:

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION HIGHLIGHTS

The key objectives of our executive compensation program are to:

We are asking you to cast an advisory, nonbinding vote to approve compensation awarded to our named executive officers (“NEOs”) — our chief executive officer (“CEO”), chief financial officer (“CFO”) and three additional most highly paid executive officers, as listed on page 31. At our last Annual Meeting, shareholders expressed strong support for our executive compensation programs, with 93% of votes cast in favor of the advisory resolution on executive compensation.

- 3 -

PAY FOR PERFORMANCE

We seek to align pay and performance by making a significant portion of our NEOs’ compensation dependent on:

2016 Pay Mix.NEO compensation is weighted toward variable compensation (annual and long-term incentives), which is at risk because the actual amounts earned could differ from targeted amounts based on corporate and individual performance. As the following charts show, the vast majority of our CEO’s and other NEOs’ target direct compensation for 2016 could vary significantly based on company performance, including stock-price performance.

TARGET PAY MIX FOR CEO

TARGET PAY MIX FOR NEOs (EXCLUDING CEO)

Note, the amounts in these graphs are shown at target and therefore will not match the values reflected in the Summary Compensation Table on page 58. For additional details about our executive compensation programs and our NEOs’ fiscal year 2016 compensation, please see “Compensation Discussion & Analysis” beginning on page 31 and “Executive Compensation Tables” beginning on page 58.

Proxy Statement

ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS | MAY 26, 2017

The Board of Directors of Lincoln National Corporation (the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “Lincoln”) is soliciting proxies in connection with the proposals to be voted on at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which will be held beginning at 9:00 a.m. local time on Friday, May 26 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 10 Avenue of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102. This proxy statement and a proxy card or a notice of internet availability were sent to our shareholders on or about April 14. When we refer to the Meeting or the Annual Meeting, we are also referring to any meeting that results from an adjournment of the Annual Meeting.

- 4 -

GOVERNANCE OF THE COMPANY

Integrity, respect and responsibility are not just guiding principles for us. They unify and inspire us to help people to take charge of their lives. Our Board of Directors is responsible for directing and overseeing the management of the Company’s business in the best interests of the shareholders and consistent with good corporate citizenship. In carrying out its responsibilities, the Board provides oversight for the process of selecting and monitoring the performance of senior management, provides oversight for financial reporting and legal and regulatory compliance, determines the Company’s governance guidelines and implements its governance policies. The Board, together with management, is responsible for establishing our values and code of conduct and for setting strategic direction and priorities.

BOARD STRUCTURE AND LEADERSHIP

As of the Annual Meeting our Board of Directors will have ten members, nine of whom arenon-employees, or outside directors. The Board has determined that all nine outside directors are independent, as discussed below. The Board may fill a director vacancy or reduce the size of the Board without shareholder approval.

The Board has no set policy requiring separation of the offices of CEO and Chairman of the Board (“Chairman”). It believes that the decision on whether or not to separate these roles should be part of the regular succession planning process and made based on the best interests of the Company.

Currently, we separate the roles of CEO and Chairman in recognition of the differences between these roles. The CEO is responsible for setting the Company’s performance and strategic direction and forday-to-day leadership, while the Chairman provides guidance to the CEO and management, consults on the agenda for Board meetings, acts as the key liaison between the Board and management, and presides over meetings of the full Board and of the independent directors. He also has the authority to call special meetings of the Board.

The Board elects the Chairman annually. William H. Cunningham, an independent director, has served as our Chairman since 2009.

BOARD’S ROLE IN RISK OVERSIGHT

Enterprise risk management is an integral part of our business processes. Senior management is primarily responsible for establishing policies and procedures designed to assess and manage the Company’s significant risks. We also have a Corporate Enterprise Risk and Capital Committee, made up of members of senior management and the Chief Risk Officer, which provides oversight of our enterprise-wide risk structure and of our processes to identify, measure, monitor and manage significant risks, including credit, market and operating risk. The Board’s role is regular oversight of the overall risk management process, including reviews of operational, financial, legal/regulatory, compensation, strategic and competitive risks. The Board reviews the most significant risks the Company faces and the manner in which our executives manage these risks. The Board has also delegated certain of its risk oversight efforts to its Committees, as shown below. This structure enables the Board and its Committees to coordinate the risk oversight role, particularly with respect to risk interrelationships. We believe that the separation of the Chairman and CEO roles supports the Board’s oversight role.

- 5 -

OUR CORPORATE GOVERNANCE GUIDELINES

The Board’s Corporate Governance Guidelines provide a framework for effective corporate governance and set expectations for how the Board should perform its functions. The Guidelines include the following key principles:

The full texts of our Corporate Governance Guidelines and committee charters are available on our website at www.lfg.com.

DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Under the Corporate Governance Guidelines, a majority of our directors must at all times be “independent” and meet the NYSE listing standards regarding independence as incorporated in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. Among other things, these standards require the Board to determine that our independent directors have no material relationship with Lincoln other than as directors.

Applying these standards, the Corporate Governance Committee and the Board have reviewed the independence of each director and director nominee, and the Board has determined that:

- 6 -

In conducting its independence review, the Board will consider, among other things, transactions and relationships between each outside director (or any member of his or her immediate family) and us or our subsidiaries and affiliates. The Board takes into account that in the ordinary course of business, we conduct transactions with companies at which some of our directors are or have been directors, employees or officers. Transactions that are in the ordinary course of business on terms substantially equivalent to those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions and that fall below the threshold levels set forth in our independence standards do not impact a director’s independence under our standards.

DIRECTOR NOMINATION PROCESS

Under our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Board is responsible for selecting its own members. The Corporate Governance Committee is charged with:

Although there are no specific minimum qualifications for director nominees, the Corporate Governance Committee’s charter allows the Committee to consider any factors it deems appropriate. The Committee reviews with the Board the appropriate skills and characteristics required of directors in the context of the Board’s currentmake-up. In addition to considering a candidate’s background, experience and professional accomplishments, the Board looks for individuals with, among other attributes, integrity, business acumen, specific skills (such as an understanding of marketing, finance, accounting, regulation and public policy) and a commitment to our shared values.

Our Board reflects a diverse, highly engaged group of directors with appropriate skills and varying backgrounds. We have a rigorous board evaluation process that includes an annual self-assessment and peer review to foster the right mix of subject matter expertise, capabilities and perspectives. Our Board also takes a thoughtful approach to board refreshment with the intent to align directors’ skills with our company strategy. The Board regularly reviews the composition and qualifications of our directors. After a deliberate and inclusive process, Deirdre Connelly was elected as a new director during 2016, to fill the vacancy left by a retiring director. Ms. Connelly’s experience and expertise is well-suited to our board and complements that of our other directors. The Board will continue to review its composition and structure balancing the need for continuity and experience with fresh ideas and perspectives.

Although the Board does not have a formal diversity policy, our Corporate Governance Guidelines specify that the Corporate Governance Committee should consider diversity in the director identification and nomination process. As a result, the Committee seeks nominees with a broad diversity of backgrounds, experiences, professions, education and differences in viewpoints and skills.

The Corporate Governance Committee begins the nomination process each year by deciding whether to renominate current directors. This includes an individual assessment of each director who will be up for reelection the following year. The Committee then reviews the results of the individual director assessments. It considers for renomination those Board members whose skills and experience continue to be relevant to our business and whose performance for the most recent term has also been favorably assessed.

- 7 -

When identifying potential director candidates — whether to replace a director who has retired or resigned or to expand the Board to gain additional capabilities — the Committee determines the skills, experience and other characteristics that a potential nominee should possess (in light of the composition and needs of the Board and its committees, and including whether or not the nominee would be considered independent under the NYSE listing standards) and seeks candidates with those qualifications.

Although not required to do so, the Committee may consider candidates proposed by our directors or our management and may also retain an outside firm to help identify and evaluate potential nominees. The Committee will also consider nominations from shareholders. Such nominations must be submitted in writing to our Corporation Secretary at our principal executive office, and must include the same information that would be required for a candidate to be nominated by a shareholder at a meeting of shareholders as described under “General Information – Shareholder Proposals for the 2018 Annual Meeting” on page 86. Any such recommendation must be received by the Corporate Secretary no earlier than January 26, 2018, and not later than February 25, 2018.

If the Corporate Governance Committee determines that it should conduct a full evaluation of a prospective candidate, including an interview, one or more members of the Committee will do so, and other directors may be asked to interview the candidate as well. Upon completing the evaluation and the interview, the Committee recommends to the Board whether to nominate the individual.

The nominee evaluation process is the same whether the nomination comes from a Board member, management or a shareholder. If the Corporate Governance Committee recommends a shareholder nominee to the Board, the Board may— as with any nominee—either accept or reject the recommendation.

ANNUAL BOARD EVALUATION

Annually, the Board conducts a self-evaluation to determine whether it and its committees are functioning effectively. The Corporate Governance Committee oversees the Board evaluation process, which is designed to elicit feedback and recommendations from the directors that will improve the effectiveness of the Board. Each year the Committee reviews the overall process for the assessment as well as the substantive matters to be addressed during the evaluation. In general, the evaluation covers a variety of topics including the Company’s strategy, financial performance, risk management and succession planning. The results of the assessment are discussed with each Committee and the full Board following the compilation of the results.

- 8 -

COMMUNICATIONS WITH DIRECTORS

Shareholders and others who wish to communicate with the full Board or its outside(non-executive) directors may do so by sending a letter to either “The Board of Directors” or “The Outside Directors,” as appropriate, at our principal executive offices:

Lincoln National Corporation

150 N. Radnor Chester Road

Radnor, PA 19087

Attention: Office of the Corporate Secretary

Our Corporate Secretary receives and processes all communications and will refer relevant and appropriate communications to the Chairman. If a communication relates to possible violations of our Code of Conduct or contains concerns or complaints regarding our accounting, internal auditing controls, or auditing matters or other related concerns, it will be referred to the Audit Committee, which has a policy for reporting such information. The policy can be found on our website at www.lfg.com.www.lfg.com.

You may communicate with the Board anonymously and/or confidentially. However, if you submit your communication anonymously, we will not be able to contact you in the event we require further information. Also, while we will attempt to preserve your confidentiality whenever possible, we cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality.

BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The Board met four times during 2016, and each director attended 75% or more of the aggregate of: (1) the total number of Board meetings; and (2) the total number of meetings held by committees on which he or she served. Although the Board does not have a formal policy that requires directors to attend our Annual Meeting of Shareholders, directors are encouraged to attend. All of the Company’s directors attended the 2016 Annual Meeting.

- 9 -

BOARD COMMITTEES

The Board has six standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, the Corporate Governance Committee, the Executive Committee, the Finance Committee and the Committee on Corporate Action. The table below lists the directors who currently serve on these committees and the number of meetings each committee held during 2016. The Audit, Compensation, Corporate Governance and Finance committees conduct self-evaluations of their committee’s performance each year.

Shaded cells denote committee chair.

The functions and responsibilities of our Board’s standing committees are described below. Charters for the Audit, Compensation, Corporate Governance, Executive and Finance committees are available on the Governance section of our website at www.lfg.com.

- 10 -

- 12 -

ITEM 1 | ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

NOMINEES FOR DIRECTOR

Ten directors will be up for election at the 2017 Annual Meeting to hold office until the next annual meeting and until their respective successors are elected and qualified. Mr. Payne is not standing for reelection. Of the directors standing for election, Mr. Glass is an officer of the Company. In addition to annual elections, our bylaws require our directors to be elected by a majority of votes cast in an uncontested election.

Each director brings a strong background and set of skills to the Board, giving the Board as a whole expertise, diversity and experience in a wide variety of areas. The Board believes that all of our directors have integrity and honesty and adhere to high ethical standards. They have also demonstrated business acumen and an ability to exercise sound judgment, as well as a commitment to serve the Company.

Unless you direct otherwise or specifically indicate that you wish to abstain from voting for one or more of the nominees on the proxy, your proxy will be voted for each of the nominees below. Each nominee is a current director of the Company and has agreed to continue serving on the Board if elected. If any nominee is unable to serve as a director, proxies may be voted for another person designated by the Board.

		DEIRDRE P. CONNELLY   RETIRED PRESIDENT NORTH NORTH AMERICAN PHARMACUETICALS OF GLAXOSMITHKLINE		AGE:AGE:55DIRECTOR SINCE:2016   Member,Audit and Corporate Governance Committees

CAREER
	CAREER	Ms. Connelly was the President, North American Pharmaceuticals of GlaxoSmithKline, a global pharmaceutical company from 2009 until her retirement in 2015. Before that she served as President, U.S. Operations for Eli Lily and Company from 2005-2009.
QUALIFICATIONS
	QUALIFICATIONS	Substantial leadership experience and expertise as a senior executive of large publicly-traded companies with global operations. She has extensive knowledge and expertise in strategy, operations, finance and capital management, brand marketing and product development.

	OTHER PUBLIC COMPANY BOARDS		Macy’s, Inc. 2008–present.
		Genmab A/S 2017–present.

		ITEM 1
Nominees for Director		ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

WILLIAM H. CUNNINGHAM   PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN AND JAMES J. BAYLESS CHAIR FOR FREE ENTERPRISE AT THE UNIVERSITY’S McCOMBS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

AGE:AGE:73DIRECTOR SINCE:2006   Non-Executive Chairman of the Board since: 2009   Member,Compensation, Corporate Governance, Executive and Finance Committees

CAREER
	CAREER	Mr. Cunningham has been a professor with The University of Texas since 2000. Before that he served as Chancellor and CEO of The University of Texas System, as President of The University of Texas at Austin and as Dean of the McCombs School of Business.
QUALIFICATIONS
	QUALIFICATIONS	Substantial experience in accounting, marketing, finance and corporate governance, as well as experience leading a large public institution. Mr. Cunningham also has significant experience serving on public company boards, including over 20 years in our industry as a Director of Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, a public insurance company with whom we merged in 2006.
	OTHER PUBLIC COMPANY BOARDS		John Hancock Mutual Funds, 1986–present. Southwest Airlines Co., 2000–present.
	PRIOR PUBLIC COMPANY BOARD SERVICE IN PAST 5 YEARS		LIN Media LLC, (formerly LIN Television Corporation) 2002–2007 and 2009–2014. Resolute Energy Corporation, 2009–2015.

 

		DENNIS R. GLASS   PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF LINCOLN NATIONAL CORPORATION		AGE:67    DIRECTOR SINCE:2006   Member,Executive Committee Committees

CAREER
	CAREER	Mr. Glass has served as our President since 2006 and our CEO since 2007. He is also President of, and serves on the boards of, our principal insurance subsidiaries. Before our merger with Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, Mr. Glass was President, CEO and a Director of that company.
QUALIFICATIONS
	QUALIFICATIONS	A seasoned executive who has served in executive-level positions in the insurance industry for over 30 years, Mr. Glass brings to his role as a Director a deep knowledge of our industry, our competitors and our products.
	OTHER PUBLIC COMPANY BOARDS		None in past 5 years.

ITEM 1
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS		Nominees for Director

		ERIC G. JOHNSON   PRESIDENT AND CEO OF BALDWIN RICHARDSON FOODS COMPANY		AGE:AGE:66DIRECTOR SINCE:1998   Chair,Finance Committee   Member,Compensation and Executive Committees

CAREER
	CAREER	Since 1997, Mr. Johnson has served as President and CEO of Baldwin Richardson Foods Company, a privately held manufacturer of products for the food service industry.
QUALIFICATIONS
	QUALIFICATIONS	Extensive executive management skills; expertise in marketing, finance and the development and execution of corporate strategy; experience in mergers and acquisitions. Through his years of service on our Board, Mr. Johnson has also developed a deep base of knowledge regarding our business and our industry.
	OTHER PUBLIC COMPANY BOARDS		SUPERVALU, INC., 2013–present.

		ITEM 1
Nominees for Director		ELECTION OF DIRECTORS