2009 Banker of the Year Awards

The Banker of the Year/Best in Banking Awards honor the people and the companies who set the highest standards of progress, innovation, and performance in banking and financial services. Awards are bestowed in four categories: Banker of the Year, Community Bankers of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, and Innovator. A special editorial supplement showcasing the 2009 honorees, and including a wrap-up of the year's most important news, was published in the December 7 edition of American Banker. View the 2009 Best in Banking Special Report.

American Banker has been naming Bankers of the Year each year since 1991. In 2001, it held its first awards dinner and ceremony, in New York City. This year, however, in light of the many challenges occupying the industry's time and attention, American Banker did not host a live awards event.

Prior years' honorees, in various categories, have included Bill Cooper, Jamie Dimon, Bob Glassman, Mary Houghton, Dick Kovacevich, Arkadi Kuhlmann, Ken Lewis, William McDonough, Peyton Patterson, Jim Rohr, Bill Seidman, Bob Wilmers, and Deborah Wright. Past keynoters have included FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and Congressman Barney Frank.

2009 Best in Banking Special Report

Banker of the Year

• Fortress Intact, Dimon Emerges as Public Face of the Industry

Community Bankers of the Year

• First Niagara CEO is Not One to Stay on Sidelines
• Patient During the Bubble, Payne Now Reaps Benefit
• ServisFirst: A Rare Industry Green Shoot

Lifetime Achievement

• Leading with Conviction on Advance or In Retreat

Innovator

• At USAA, Innovation in the Name of Service

Extras

• Honoree Dossiers

Honorable Mention

• The American Taxpayer

Year in Review

• Tests (Stress, Personal) Passed and Failed

Year in Quotes

• The Industry in Its Own Words

Additional Links
• Banker of the Year Archive
• Contact the Editors
• For sponsorship information, contact Adam Dadich