Retired BB&T Chief to Deliver Smith Ethics Lecture at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — John A. Allison, retired chairman and chief executive officer of BB&T Corp., the 10th largest financial services holding company headquartered in the U. S., will deliver the 2011 J. Craig Smith Business Ethics Lecture at The University of Alabama Tuesday, April 12.

Allison’s appearance is presented by the J. Craig Smith Endowed Chair of Business Integrity in conjunction with the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration Academic Honor Council. Allison’s address will be at 7 p.m. in Alston 10, on the lower level of Alston Hall.

Allison’s lecture will coincide with the 2011 Outstanding Business Ethics Essay Competition in which students share a personal essay that demonstrates ethics and integrity in a real-life situation. The winners will each receive a $300 award and plaque as well as dinner with Allison and other distinguished guests. The winners’ names and essays will be placed on the college website and their names will be added to a permanent plaque in Bidgood Hall.

The five students selected to receive the 2011 Outstanding Business Ethics Award for their essays are: Jason Drory, “Ethics: Development & Importance”; Jordan Frey, “Stealing Beliefs”; Jason Millirons, “Moral Issues”; Daniel Mirolli, “A Company Man”; and Katie Sanders, “The (Business) World’s Dilemma: A Deficit in Ethics.”

Allison began his service with BB&T in 1971, managing 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 his tenure as CEO, 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.

He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1971. He received his master’s degree in management from Duke University in 1974. He is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and has received a number of honorary doctorate degrees.

Allison received the Corning Award for Distinguished Leadership, was inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the “American Banker” in 2009. He was recognized by the “Harvard Business Review” as one of the top 100 most successful CEOs in the world over the past decade.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., Allison is married to the former Elizabeth McDonald of Elkin, N.C. They have two sons and one daughter.

Dr. William E. Jackson III, Professor of Finance, Professor of Management, and The Smith Foundation Chair of Business Integrity at the Culverhouse College of Commerce, said Allison’s appearance is particularly appropriate because of Allison’s – and BB&T’s – distinctive philosophy.

“John Allison’s success at BB&T and its ability to withstand the economic crisis that seriously damaged a number of financial institutions is testimony to his business acumen and the strong corporate culture that he built at BB&T,” Jackson said.