On January 1, 2014, on the recommendation of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the board of directors of First Busey Corporation increased the number of directors constituting the full Board from ten to eleven and appointed Dr. Phyllis M. Wise as a director to fill the resultant vacancy, with such appointment effective immediately. Dr. Wise's term will expire at the 2014 annual meeting of stockholders. Dr. Wise has served as Chancellor of the University of Illinois at its Urbana-Champaign campus and Vice President of the University of Illinois since 2011.

Dr. Wise has also served on the board of directors of Nike Inc. since 2009. The Board has not yet determined to which committees of the Board, if any, Dr. Wise will be appointed to serve.