MARGARET L. CALLIHAN CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO SUNTRUST BANK SOUTHWEST FLORIDA JOINS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOARD
(Sarasota - September 8, 2006) The Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County welcomes Margaret Callihan, chairman, president and CEO of Suntrust Bank Southwest Florida as its newest member.
Margaret Callihan assumed the position of Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of SunTrust Bank, Southwest Florida on January 1, 2005. Prior to moving to Sarasota, Margaret was the Chairman, President and CEO of SunTrust Bank, Chattanooga, and was the first woman regional president named in SunTrust and still serves as the only woman in this role in the company. Prior to being named CEO in Chattanooga, she served in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Retail Line of Business Manager for the SunTrust Banks in Tennessee and Alabama. She was also the Middle Tennessee Branch Administrator with responsibility for all branches and Private Banking Groups in the five-county Nashville MSA. The Tennessee Business Banking Group and Music Industry Office also reported to her. She joined SunTrust Bank in its Management Training Program in 1978.
Margaret Callihan was educated at Vanderbilt University, receiving her BA cum laude in May, 1977 and her MBA in May, 2004. In April, 2004, she was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society and she received the Martin Geisel Leadership Award upon her graduation the next month. She successfully completed the course of study of the Graduate School of Banking of the South at LSU in June, 1986. She also completed the Colgate Darden Commercial Lending Decisions and Advanced Commercial Lending School. She graduated from the SunTrust University Commercial Real Estate School in 1994; the SunTrust Managing Relationship Managers School in 1995; and from the SunTrust Advanced Management Program in 1998. In addition, she has attended numerous internal training sessions and seminars focused on credit, sales, supervision, leadership and management.
Ms. Callihan has instructed at the Southeastern Consumer Credit School; Schools of Banking (Kansas and Nebraska); North Dakota Schools of Banking; SunTrust University Management Academies; and the Graduate School of Banking of the South. Margaret is a graduate of Leadership Nashville and Leadership Music.
During her tenure in Chattanooga, Margaret served as the Chairman of the Greater Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce as the charter Chairman of the Enterprise Center which was formed to oversee the technology initiatives of numerous agencies in the community. She also served on the Finance Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Chattanooga United Way Agency and was a board member of the UC Foundation for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She was also on the Chancellor’s Roundtable supporting the university. She chaired the Chamber of Commerce 2002 “Come Together” Membership Campaign and was also on the board of the Allied Arts. Margaret was honored in 2002 with the Lung Association’s “Woman of Distinction” award and won the Athena Award in 2003. Both of these awards recognize women leaders and people who promote diversity in their spheres of influence.
She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce as the Division Chair of Membership Services and Benefits. She is also on the Community Leadership Council for the University of South Florida and is a Board member of the United Way of Sarasota County. She is a new Board member for the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau and is their representative to the Board of the Economic Development Corporation. In February, 2006, she was recognized and honored by Girls Inc. with the “She Knows Where She’s Going” award.
Margaret is the proud mother of three grown children. She and her husband, Matt, live on Longboat Key with their dog, Lou, and enjoy snow skiing, boating and music of all kinds.
The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is a public charity founded by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council in 1979 to meet the needs of their clients seeking to leave a charitable legacy of lasting impact. With current assets of more than $140 million in over 520 different funds, the Community Foundation manages and invests these funds and awards grants and scholarships totaling in excess of $5 million annually. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to create permanent funds to support the causes they care about most in the areas of education, the arts, animal welfare, the environment and health and human services. The Community Foundation’s motto is: For good. For ever.® Stewart W. Stearns is president & CEO of the Community Foundation. Sophia LaRusso is board chair.