Aubrey Patterson became president of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning yesterday [Jan. 16] in Jackson. Trustee Patterson will officially take office on Feb. 1.
Patterson served as vice president of the Board during former Board President Bob Owensâ term. Trustee Alan Perry will serve as vice president during Pattersonâs term.
Patterson was appointed to the IHL Board of Trustees by Governor Haley Barbour in 2004. His term will expire in May 2015.
Patterson recently retired as chairman and chief executive officer of BancorpSouth, Inc., an $11.8 billion-asset bank holding company whose subsidiary bank operates 270 banking locations in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. He served as president and chief operation officer from 1983 to 1991, and as chairman and chief executive officer from 1991 to the present. BancorpSouth is now the 47th largest bank holding company in the U.S. Patterson is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and holds a masterâs degree from Michigan State University. He has completed the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin and is a member of several professional organizations, including Beta Gamma Sigma and Beta Alpha Psi honoraries.
He is active in local, state and national organizations, and serves on the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He has served as chairman of both the Mississippi Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association, representing banks of all sizes and charters, from the smallest community bank to the largest bank holding companies.
He has served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Community Development Foundation, chairman of the Board of North Mississippi Health Services and as chairman of the Mississippi Economic Council, Mississippiâs largest business organization. He has been a member of the Executive Board of Mississippiâs Public Education Forum and the Executive Committee of Mississippiâs Partnership for Economic Development.
Patterson is a past Chairman of the University of Mississippi Foundation and CREATE, Inc., Northeast Mississippiâs Community Foundation. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of its subsidiary, the Journal Publishing Company. He was also a charter member of the Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi.
He has been president of the Tupelo Kiwanis Club and chairman of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army. For many years, he has been active in the Yocona Area Council of the Boy Scouts, serving as a member of the Executive Board in various leadership roles.
In 1997, he was honored by election to the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame.