On January 3, the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame announced its 2025 inductees who will be honored at the 12th Annual Texas Bankers Hall of Fame Gala, May 1 on the campus of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. Five iconic bankers—Sam H. Burris Jr., Charles G. Cooper, Harvey P. Hartenstine, Robert W. “Bobby” Hoxworth and William A. Nesbitt—will be honored. Established by the Smith-Hutson Endowed Chair of Banking at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame recognizes and honors the accomplishments of outstanding bankers who have made valuable contributions to the banking profession and pioneered the Texas banking industry.
Sam H. Burris Jr. was born and raised in Alice to parents Sam Houston Burris, an attorney and World War II veteran, and his wife Dorothy Rutledge Burris, an educator who taught high school English. Sam has one brother, Barrett H. Burris, who lives in Magnolia.
Graduating from Alice High School in 1972, Burris attended the University of Texas–Austin where he met fellow student Judy Johnson. Burris and Johnson married in 1976, one year after he graduated with a BBA degree in finance. He and Judy have four daughters and seven grandchildren.
Burris worked for four banks over the course of his career, beginning with Alice National Bank, followed by Brush Country Bank, First Security Bank and First National Bank of Huntsville. After 30 years with First National Bank of Huntsville, Burris retired as chairman of the board in 2022. This year the bank is celebrating 135 years as a locally owned community bank with five branches.
Burris served in many capacities with numerous community organizations such as the Methodist Retirement Communities (MRC), MRC Creekside, Huntsville Memorial Hospital, SHSU Smith-Hutson Endowed Chair of Banking advisory board, SHSU President’s Circle, Second Step Counseling Center and the government relations committee of the Texas Bankers Association.
His hobbies include spending time with family, hunting, fishing and golfing.
Charles G. Cooper was appointed Texas banking commissioner by the Texas Finance Commission in 2008. His career in the banking industry spans more than 50 years and includes senior-level positions in both the public and private sectors.
As Texas banking commissioner for the Texas Department of Banking, Cooper’s responsibilities include chartering, regulation, supervision and examination of 214 Texas state-chartered banks (as of September 30, 2024) with aggregate assets of approximately $452.5 billion. The department also supervises trust companies, foreign bank agencies and branches, prepaid funeral licensees, money service businesses and perpetual care cemeteries.
Cooper has served in various positions with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. He was elected chairman in 2016 and currently serves as chairman emeritus. He served two terms as the state banking representative on the Financial Stability Oversight Council from 2018 to 2022. In 2023, Cooper was appointed chairman of the State Liaison Committee and was re-elected to serve another term the following year. This position serves as a voting member of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. He also serves as the state representative on the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee and is heavily involved in promoting cybersecurity efforts in the financial sector.
Cooper began his career in banking in 1970 with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the Dallas region. During his 12 years in the public sector, he served in various capacities, including examiner, review examiner and field office supervisor of the Houston Northeast field office. He made the transition to the private sector in 1982, serving as a banking executive, board member, educator and professional consultant to the industry. His financial services experience includes executive-level positions associated with lending, credit administration, asset/liability management and general bank operations.
A native Texan, Cooper holds a BBA degree in finance and economics from Baylor University and is also a graduate of the SW Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. He also received an advanced peace officer certification. Cooper has served on the board of the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate since 1990. He is married and has two daughters and one granddaughter.
Harvey P. Hartenstine has been an integral part of San Antonio-based Broadway Bank’s growth since 1992, currently holding the positions of president and chief banking executive. He has served on the Broadway Bank board of directors since 2019 and participates in key committees such as the directors loan review committee, directors trust committee, directors asset-liability committee and senior officer’s loan committee. His influence extends to various strategic and regulatory committees within the bank.
Hartenstine plays a crucial role in providing leadership across all markets for commercial banking, wealth management and private banking. He is instrumental in steering the current geographic expansion into new Texas markets and has held numerous leadership roles, including president of Broadway Bank’s Austin region and group executive vice president/division manager of the private bank.
With more than 44 years of experience in the banking and financial industry, Hartenstine holds a graduate banking degree from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, an MBA degree in international finance from Our Lady of the Lake University and a BS degree from Texas State University.
In addition to his executive career, Hartenstine also sits on the boards of several organizations, including the Christus Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Foundation, Mission Road Ministries, President’s Council of Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas and CP Legacy Assets. He recently served as co-chair of the 2024 Mission Road Ministries Annual Gala, the organization’s largest annual fundraiser at which more than $1 million was raised, and is a member of the Texas Business Leadership Council and United Way’s Tocqueville Society. Hartenstine is also a 2025 San Antonio Business Hall of Fame inductee.
Previously, Hartenstine served as chairman on the Texas Bankers Association Services Co. board and served on the Texas Bankers Association, Zach Theatre Trustees and Crosspoint Inc. boards. He was a member of the advisory board for the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, chaired the annual KLRN San Antonio Wine Festival and the Mission Road Ministries 2003 annual gala, served as San Antonio Fiesta commissioner and was a member of the founding board of directors for the San Antonio Business Development Fund. Hartenstine also completed Leadership San Antonio.
Hartenstine strongly believes in giving back to his community. In 2024, this dedication was recognized when he received the esteemed Richard Goldsmith Volunteer Leadership Award from Crosspoint Inc. To continue his commitment to supporting education and future professionals, he served as an adjunct professor and has personally established the Hartenstine Endowment at Texas State University for MBA and accounting majors.
Robert W. “Bobby” Hoxworth has lived in Texas all of his life and moved to Killeen in 1978. He is the president and chief executive officer of Killeen-based First National Bank Texas, a position he has held since 2008. Hoxworth joined the bank in 1981 as a vocational office education student worker in the mailroom and has held numerous positions within the bank during his 43-year career.
Hoxworth earned an AAS degree from Central Texas College and a BAS degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He received his MBA degree from Baylor University.
Hoxworth is a former two-term councilmember for the City of Harker Heights (2003–09) and in his capacity as a councilmember for Harker Heights, served as mayor pro-tempore and as the city’s appointee to the board of directors of the Central Texas Council of Governments. Hoxworth is a former chairman of the Texas Bankers Association, the oldest and largest state banking association in the nation. He has also served the Central Texas community as chairman of the board of the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce, president of the Killeen-Heights Rotary Club, president of the Killeen ISD Education Foundation, chairman of the Texas A&M University–Central Texas Foundation, chairman of the Better Business Bureau of the Heart of Texas, president of the Central Texas Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of the United States Army and treasurer of the Killeen Economic Development Corp. and the Fort Hood Regional Economic Development Foundation. Hoxworth has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus of the Killeen Independent School District (2013), the Central Texas College Foundation (2022) and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Alumni Association (2024). He was named a III Corp Good Neighbor in 2022.
Hoxworth currently serves on the board of the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance. He is also a member of the President’s Regional Advisory Council for Texas A&M University–Central Texas, a life member of the Central Texas Fort Hood chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army and a member of the Killeen-Heights Rotary Club.
Hoxworth has been married to his wife Pat for 40 years. They live in Belton with their dachshund, Darbey, and cat, Momma.
William A. Nesbitt graduated from Gatesville High School in 1963 and was selected among 40 high school graduates to receive a full-ride scholarship from the Citizens National Bank of Waco to attend Baylor University. The scholarship’s only criteria was to tell the bank president at the end of each semester that he (Nesbitt) wanted to be a banker and maintain a 3.0 or better GPA. Nesbitt also worked part-time during the summers and throughout his senior year. The bank continued the scholarship through the Baylor School of Law. That generous scholarship was the inspiration of Walter G. Lacy Jr., one of the inaugural inductees of the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame, and, coupled with the part-time job at Citizens National Bank of Texas, proved to be the turning point in Nesbitt’s life.
Nesbitt worked at Citizens National Bank of Texas through a merger with RepublicBank Dallas in 1986. He left RepublicBank in 1987 and joined a group that purchased a small independent bank, Central National Bank of Woodway-Hewitt.
Central National Bank of Woodway-Hewitt is owned by eight families who consider themselves partners more than shareholders. Today, it is still governed by a shareholders’ agreement signed by seven of the eight families. For 37 years, the bank has enjoyed excellent profitability while balancing dividends with capital retention.
Nesbitt has three sons and shares a daughter and two sons with his wife, Dwana. The six of them and their spouses have blessed Nesbitt and his wife with 12 grandchildren, with their lucky 13th on the way. One of his sons, Joe Nesbitt, is the CEO of the Central National Bank of Woodway-Hewitt.
Click here to learn more about (and register for) the 12th Annual Texas Bankers Hall of Fame Gala, May 1 on the campus of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.
