Banking and Finance Symposium Celebrates 25th Year with Big Agenda

The professional conference, hosted by the School of Business Administration, is set for Nov. 6 at the Oxford Conference Center. The event has become a prime spot for professionals to network, said Rich Gentry, the school's dean.

"One of the most important things you can do in banking is build relationships," he said. "That is the kind of thing that can only happen at concise symposiums like what our alumni have helped build.

"It is capped at approximately 375 participants, with people from all over the Southeast coming to get updates on what is happening in the industry."

The Fireside Chat, set for 11:15 a.m., will feature three powerful women in banking:

• Michelle "Miki" Bowman, vice chair for supervision for the Federal Reserve System's board of governors
• Cathy Owen, CEO of Eagle Bank and chair of the American Bankers Association
• Jill Castilla, president and CEO of the Bank of Edmond, Oklahoma, who will moderate the chat.

Bowman is returning to Ole Miss after serving as a keynote speaker in 2024. 

"On the heels of the midterms, they will have an invigorating conversation about all things banking you can fit within a 45-minute window," said Stan Viner, event emcee and president of the school's banking and finance board. 

The symposium begins at 8 a.m. with the Women in the Finance Industry breakfast, featuring Michelle Rivers, chief experience officer for Renasant Bank, and Keith Carter, Ole Miss vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics, who will speak about motivating employees and peers. 

The day's keynote speakers are Ole Miss Chancellor Glenn Boyce and Douglas Carswell, president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

Organizers will present four awards at the event. This year's Distinguished Finance Award will go to Melanie Dowell. A 1980 public administration graduate of Ole Miss, she is executive director and founding partner of The Dowell Group and is a Morgan Stanley financial adviser.

The first of two Pioneer Awards will posthumously recognize the late Minnie Geddings Cox, who helped found one of the first banks for African Americans in Mississippi, the Delta Penny Savings Bank, in the early 20th century.

The symposium will also recognize Robert M. Hearin with a posthumous Pioneer Award. Hearin served as president of First National Bank from 1962 to 1981. First National Bank and First Capital Corp., which he helped establish in 1968, evolved into Trustmark, a stalwart financial institution in Mississippi and the Southeast.

Organizers also will honor John Robert Campbell with this year's Emerging Leader Award. He earned his undergraduate degree in banking and finance in 2005 and MBA in 2011, both from Ole Miss. He is head of investor relations at Porch Group, a publicly traded homeowners' insurance and home services company.

The afternoon will feature concurrent sessions. At 1:15 p.m., participants can choose between "No Data…No AI" and "Regulatory Strategies." At 2:15, the choices are "AI Hype to AI Practicality and Playbooks" and "Growth Strategies."

"I would put this conference up against any of them, with quality content from quality speakers," said Phil Buffington, partner at Balch & Bingham LLP. "This is a premier conference; one we have built on for 25 years."

The event is open to all banking and finance professionals, students and alumni, and professionals can earn up to five continuing education credits. Last year, attendees came from 23 states.

Registration is $95, and scholarships are available for employed professionals ages 35 and younger. Email Kathy Mikell for scholarship information.

Top: Michelle Bowman (left), vice chair for supervision for the U.S. Federal Reserve System's board of governors, and Jill Castilla, president and CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond, discuss issues facing the banking and finance industry at the 2024 Banking and Finance Symposium. Castilla will moderate a Fireside Chat featuring Bowman and Cathy Owen, CEO of Eagle Bank and chair of the American Bankers Association, at this year’s symposium. Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services