Patterson epitomizes integrity in business, community, life

When Aubrey Patterson was introduced as president of the American Bankers Association (ABA) in 2002, ABA Banking Journal editor William Streeter described him as sharing "Elvis's birthplace, but not his flamboyance. Look past Patterson's quiet demeanor, though, and you'll see a man with an analytical mind, a competitive spirit and clearly formed ideas about banking."

"Compared with Elvis, Patterson is the personification of low-key," wrote Streeter. "In fact, Patterson concedes he wasn't much of an Elvis fan, even though as a teenager he once heard Presley play the Grenada roller rink."

Born in Grenada in 1942, Patterson's dad worked on flood control projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In the mid-1950s, the family relocated to Oxford, where he met his future wife, Ruby Kathryn, at University High School. The couple attended the Ole Miss together, rubbing elbows with classmates Trent Lott and Rose Clayton, the future wife of Thad Cochran.

Ironically, Patterson didn't study banking at Ole Miss, and never intended to be a banker. After college, the duo wed and embarked on a six-year tour as an Air Force married couple. His military duties included financial management and intelligence work, and he took advantage of the Air Force paying for him to earn a master's degree from Michigan State University in exchange for an extended tour of duty. He split that time between an air base in Turkey, located approximately 50 miles from Istanbul near the Sea of Marmara, and the Strategic Air Command headquarters in Omaha, Neb. During his service, he received the National Defense Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Department of Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

While mulling his next move - perhaps remaining in the military? Patterson's father introduced him to J.C. Whitehead, CEO of Tupelo-based BancorpSouth, then known as the Bank of Mississippi. "The more Ruby Kathryn and I looked at (Tupelo), the more we liked it," he said. "It had great schools and a good value system. It was a good place to raise three children."

Patterson became even more proficient in his profession at the University of Wisconsin's Graduate School of Banking. By 1983, he had been named president and COO of the bank, which had grown to $500 million in assets following several small, nearby acquisitions. At that time, state law prohibited banks from branching outside a 100-mile radius of the home office. However, the similar-sized First Mississippi National Bank, which operated in Central and South Mississippi, needed a partner or an infusion of capital. He knew that merging with First Mississippi represented an opportunity to create a $1-billion statewide bank.

Coincidentally, during the following legislative session, legislators passed statewide branching, which until then, Bank of Mississippi had opposed. "I'm not suggesting the law was changed because of us, but we may have tilted the scales by shifting from antagonist to protagonist," said Patterson.

The merger opened up plum markets for the bank, now among the company's best operations. It also laid the groundwork for the bank to expand into neighboring states. "It would have taken us a decade to build that kind of franchise from smaller acquisitions or from scratch," noted Patterson, who was named chairman and CEO in 1991. However, "we wore out a bunch of automobiles going back and forth down there. It took three years to clean it up."

Under Patterson's guiding hand, BancorpSouth is now a $13-billion asset bank holding company with subsidiary bank operations including more than 300 banking and insurance locations in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Florida and Louisiana. It represents the nation's 47th largest bank.

Patterson has served as president of the Mississippi Bankers Association, chaired the University of Mississippi Business Advisory Council and the Bankers Advisory Council of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, a national organization that oversees state-chartered banking. He has served as board chairman of the Community Development Foundation, North Mississippi Health Services and Mississippi Economic Council. For six years, he was a Columbia Theological Seminary board member.

He is perhaps most passionate about upgrading education statewide. He led the effort to create Tupelo's Advanced Education Center, a joint venture between Ole Miss, Mississippi University for Women and Itawamba Community College. In 2001, he co-chaired the State Leadership Summit on Higher Education. He chaired the education committee of Blueprint Mississippi, a private sector initiative to develop a strategic plan for the state. He serves in the same capacity on the executive steering committee of Momentum Mississippi, closely collaborating with the Mississippi Development Authority. He is serving an 11-year term on the Institutions of Higher Learning Mississippi Board of Trustees. An executive board member of Mississippi's Public Education Forum, he also chaired Mississippi's Partnership for Economic Development.