The membership of the Texas Bankers Association recently elected officers for the 2021-22 fiscal year. Elected were Chairman Raymond “Rusty” Rust III, president and CEO of Commercial Bank of Texas in Nacogdoches; Vice Chair A. Ford Sasser III, president and CEO of Rio Bank, McAllen; and Treasurer David W. Osborn, president and chief operating officer of WestStar Bank, El Paso. The officers’ terms are from June 1 through May 31, 2022.
Rust, a 22-year banker, served as general counsel and senior credit officer for CBTx from 1997 to 2012. In 2012, he was promoted to president and in 2013 to CEO. CBTx was founded in 1901 and has been located on the same corner since 1903. A graduate of Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma City University Law School, Rust previously practiced law in Oklahoma City. Like his bank, he is very active in his community, having served as chairman of the airport advisory board, president of the Nacogdoches Industrial Foundation and on the board of the Nacogdoches Industrial Trust. He is also active in the Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce, CASA, Rotary Club, Nacogdoches Bar Association and Nacogdoches Visitor Center.
Sasser, a native of San Antonio, graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural economics. After college, he went to work as a bank examiner for the Texas Department of Banking. In 1980, he joined the Commercial National Bank in Beeville, where he became senior lending officer. In 1986, Sasser was offered the position of president of McAllen National Bank, where he played a significant role in turning the problem bank around. He later became the senior lending officer and member of the board of directors of Inter National Bank of McAllen, followed by a stint at First Valley Bank, which was bought by Wells Fargo. In 1999, Sasser bought an ownership interest in Rio Bank, where he serves as its president and CEO.
Osborn has been in banking for 38 years. A graduate of McMurry University and Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University, he got his first taste of banking at State National Bank in El Paso as a credit analyst in 1983 and soon after became vice president/real estate lending. For 10 years, Osborn worked for JPMorgan Chase for which he served several roles, including executive vice president/private banking and commercial lending. He joined WestStar Bank as senior vice president and commercial lender in 2000 and today serves as president and chief operating officer. Osborn serves on the board of McMurry University and Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare and is an active member of Rawls College of Business Excellence in Banking program at Texas Tech University, The Borderplex Alliance and The Border Industrial Association.
Established in 1885, the Texas Bankers Association is the largest and oldest state bankers association in the nation.
