Jeff Schmid has joined the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking (SWGSB) Foundation as president and CEO, effective September 1. The move comes as S. Scott MacDonald Ph.D. retires from the position after 24 years of service to the foundation, headquartered at the Cox School of Business on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas.
“In that time, Scott has helped strengthen ties between SWGSB and SMU Cox,” says Vic Pierson, chairman, president and CEO of Galveston-based Moody National Bank and chairman of the SWGSB board of trustees. “He has contributed greatly to SWGSB’s role as a trusted educational source for banking education, bank leadership development and bank director training programs. We are grateful to Scott for his leadership even as we look ahead to Jeff taking the helm.”
With nearly 40 years of banking and regulatory experience, Schmid began his career at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1981 and remained until 1989. He graduated from the SWGSB summer residence program at SMU Cox in 1990. After completing the SWGSB program, Schmid became president and CEO of two closely held banks in the Midwest. In 2007, he led the establishment of Mutual of Omaha Bank, a wholly owned investment of Mutual of Omaha, and served there as chairman and chief executive officer. He built the organization into a national franchise with assets of nearly $10 billion.
“My 35-year association with the foundation’s schools changed the trajectory of my career,” Schmid says. “I look forward to offering that kind of career-changing experience to future SWGSB students. The foundation’s director programs also afford the opportunity to positively influence bank boards and their governance.”
Schmid holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska. He is a longtime member of the Cox School of Business executive board and his involvement with the SWGSB Foundation is long-established, including service as past chairman of the SWGSB Foundation board of trustees. He received the SWGSB Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2006. Only seven other graduates in the SWGSB’s 64-year-old history have received this prestigious honor. He has also served as a SWGSB faculty member and was dean for bankers at SWGSB. He presently sits on the boards of Operation HOPE in Atlanta, Georgia, and Avenue Scholars in Omaha, Nebraska.
Established in 1957, the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking has become one of the top banking educational institutions. It is a professional school for bank officers, regulators and others holding management positions in the financial services industry. Emphasis is placed on financial management, leadership development and strategic planning. The SWGSB Foundation conducts the prestigious Assemblies for Bank Directors, a series of annual seminars and workshops held throughout the U.S., Canada and offshore for bank board members and senior officers.
