Jul. 2, 2009 (United Press International) -- The board of U.S. mortgage giant Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) has called on Charles Haldeman Jr. to serve as its chief executive officer, a source close to the company said.

Haldeman is the chairman of the board at Putnam Investment Management LLC in Boston. His appointment to lead the Federal Loan Mortgage Corp. must be approved by U.S. regulators, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.

Haldeman is also chairman of the board at Dartmouth College.

"He has all the requisite leadership skills. He's ethical. He has a humanistic demeanor that doesn't diminish from his ability to make the hard decisions," said Pamela Joyner, a trustee at Dartmouth.

Haldeman would replace interim CEO John Koskinen, who took over when former Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Syron resigned after the government took over Freddie Mac, which was struggling with huge mortgage-related losses last fall.