Catherine P. Bessant

Biography

Ms. Catherine P. Bessant, also known as Cathy, has been the Chief Operations and Technology Officer at Bank of America Corporation since July 22, 2015 and serves as its Member of Executive Management Team. Since 2010, Ms. Bessant has been responsible for delivering end-to-end technology and operations across Bank of America through a global team of more than 100,000 employees and contractors in 35 countries. She also oversees Bank of America's business continuity and information security strategies and policies. She served as Global Technology and Operations Executive for Bank of America Corporation from January 2010 to July 22, 2015. Ms. Bessant served as the President of Global Technology & Operations at Bank of America Corporation since January 2010. She served as the President of Global Treasury Services at Bank of America Corporation since April 2006 and also served as its Global Marketing Executive and President of Global Corporate Banking, a division of Global Banking and Markets. She also served as the President of Global Product Solutions at Bank of America Corporation. Ms. Bessant joined Bank of America as a corporate banker in Texas in 1982 and served as its President of Consumer Real Estate and Community Development Banking, leading mortgage lending and operations nationwide, as well as the full complement of Bank of America community development activities. She served as President of Bank of America, Florida, managing commercial, consumer, small business and mass affluent segments, including more than 800 banking centers and $46 billion in total assets. As National Small Business Segment Executive of Bank of America, she led a group serving more than two million small business customers in the U.S. She was Chief Marketing Officer for Bank of America, where she was responsible for worldwide marketing, public policy and charitable giving. Ms. Bessant has been chairing Bank of America’s Environmental Program since 2011. She oversees Bank of America’s current 10-year, $50 billion environmental business initiative to help support clean energy and reduce demands on natural resources through lower-carbon lending, investment and financing solutions. She also oversees Bank of America’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its own operation. She chairs the board of directors of Foundation For The Carolinas. She is co-chair of the Citizens’ Task Force on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. She was chair of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. She serves as Lead Director for Florida Blue (formerly Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida), and is a member of the board of trustees for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has been a Director of Blue Cross And Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. since 2001 and Zurich Insurance Group AG since March 29, 2017. She has also been a Director of Zurich Insurance Company Ltd since March 2017. She sits on the advisory board for the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. She served as a Director at Private Export Funding Corporation. She is an active member of industry-related, civic and cultural institutions. In December 2011, Ms. Bessant was named “Best CIO” by technology trade publication Waters Technology at their annual American Financial Technology Awards banquet. Named to American Banker’s “25 Most Powerful Women in Banking” list in 2013 for the third consecutive year, she was also honored as one of Computerworld’s “2013 Premier 100” IT leaders. She was No. 4 on the 2013 Institutional Investor Tech 50 list of financial services leaders in technological achievement and innovation. Ms. Bessant holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Research Interest

Business