On October 22, First Financial Bankshares, the parent company of Abilene-based First Financial Bank, announced the election of Tim Brown as executive vice president and chief information officer of the company and CEO of First Technology Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. John Ruzicka, who has been serving as chief information officer since 2018, will be transitioning to the role of chief banking operations officer and will play an integral role in the oversight and scaling of the bank’s backroom operations.
“Tim brings more than 35 years of technology innovation and operations experience to our company that will be vital as we look to further develop and scale our technology product offerings,” says David Bailey, president of First Financial Bankshares.
Brown joins First Financial Bank from Johnson Financial Group, a $7 billion community bank with a $15 billion wealth management company in Wisconsin. Prior to Johnson Financial, he worked for more than 30 years at USAA, with his most recent position being senior executive of innovation research and development. Brown received his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Texas A&M University and his MBA degree from St. Mary’s University.
Ruzicka has served as chief information officer for the company since 2018. Since taking over leadership of the company’s technology group, he has been instrumental in enhancing the bank’s technology infrastructure and digital modernization. He also led the technology conversion for the company’s largest acquisition to date. Prior to joining First Financial Bank, Ruzicka served in various IT and operations leadership roles for multiple community and regional banks spanning more than three decades. He is a graduate of California State University with a degree in business administration.
Established in 1889, First Financial Bank operates 79 locations in Texas. The company also operates First Financial Trust & Asset Management Co., with nine locations, and First Technology Services Inc., a technology operating company.
