Articles from SW Graduate School of Banking

The SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB), a nationally renowned source for banking executive education, has announced the SW Graduate School of Banking’s highest honors for 2025. H. Gary Blankenship, chairman, CEO and chief lending officer of Bank of the West, will be honored with the Distinguished Service Award on May 29, 2025, and Ron Butler, chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region, executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc., and a graduate of SWGSB Class XXXVII, will be honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award on June 5, 2025.

The SW Graduate School of Banking (SWGSB) at SMU Cox has announced new leadership and added three new trustees to its board roster of highly respected advisors. T. Gary Hudson, former president and CEO and current board member of Farmers & Merchant’s Bank is the new SWGSB chairman and R. Scott Heitkamp, president and CEO of ValueBank Texas is the new SWGSB vice chairman, and Christopher J. Furlow, president and CEO of Texas Bankers Association continues as secretary. Sanford M. Brown, partner and co-chair of the Financial Services Group at Alson & Bird; Greg Massey, chairman and CEO of First United Bank & Trust; and Jan Mills, president and chairman of First National Bank of Winnsboro, Texas, were named to the board of trustees at the February 2025 meeting.