BB&T Chairman to deliver lecture Nov. 3 at Marshall University

HUNTINGTON – John A. Allison, Chairman of BB&T Corporation, the 10th-largest financial services holding company in the United States, will deliver the 2009 BB&T Discussion on American Capitalism Lecture at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3 at Marshall University.

Allison’s lecture, titled “Principled Leadership,” will take place in Corbly Hall 105 on Marshall’s Huntington campus. The event, which is open to the public, is sponsored by the BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism and Marshall’s Lewis College of Business.

The Center was established in 2008 as part of a $1 million grant from the BB&T Charitable Foundation. It is part of the Lewis College of Business.

“In a time when the ethics and abilities of financial institution executives are under scrutiny, John Allison is an example of what a leader should be,” said Dr. Cal Kent, Vice President for Business and Economic Research, and director of the BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism. “Under his leadership BB&T has remained profitable by sticking with the fundamental principals of sound banking. His high ethical code permeates the organization. If his example had been followed much of the nation’s current economic misery would not have come to pass. It is an honor to host him on our campus.”

Allison began his service with BB&T in 1971 and has managed a wide variety of responsibilities throughout the bank. He became president of BB&T in 1987 and was elected Chairman and CEO in July 1989. During Allison’s tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets. In March 2009, he joined the faculty of Wake Forest University School of Business as Distinguished Professor of Practice.

Allison is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a B.S. degree in business administration in 1971. He received his master’s degree in management from Duke University in 1974. He also is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Clemson University (2005), East Carolina University (1995), Mount Olive College (2002), Marymount University (2008), and Mercer University (2009). Allison received the Corning Award for Distinguished Leadership in 2009.