First Union Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has announced two top-level executive changes, effective Wednesday.
Beth McCague, 46, has been named chairman, chief executive, and president of First Union National Bank of Tennessee, a $2 billion-asset unit based in Nashville.
She succeeds Bob Reid, who has been named Philadelphia area president. He will lead First Union's operations in four Pennsylvania counties and in Delaware. Mr. Reid, 40, succeeds Roland K. Bullard 2d, who is retiring.
Mr. Bullard, 52, will continue as a chairman of First Union's Philadelphia advisory board. Mr. Bullard, who had been with First Fidelity Bank for four years before its merger with First Union in 1995, will aid Mr. Reid in the management transition.
Ms. McCague has been executive vice president and head of corporate banking at First Union National Bank of Florida, Jacksonville, a $36 billion-asset unit. First Union has not announced a successor. Earlier, Ms. McCague had been president of First Union's Jacksonville, Fla., regional office, and city executive at the Gainesville, Fla., office.
Ms. McCague, who was born and grew up in Gainesville, said she has admired Tennessee's success at wooing new companies. She plans to travel across the state to meet with First Union customers and employees.
"After operating large city offices, like Jacksonville with $2 billion in deposits, and over 50 branches, I jumped at the chance (to become chairman) for a few reasons - I have never been chairman of a bank before, I will be operating more independently than I have in the past, and serve on First Union's executive management committee. Each reason represented a great opportunity for me," she said in an interview.
Ms. McCague will report to First Union Corp. vice chairman John Georgius.
Ms. McCague received a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Florida and a master's degree in business administration from Jacksonville University.
Ms. McCague started her banking career as a trainee in 1975 at the Orlando office of Atlantic Bank Corp., Jacksonville. Her first post was personnel officer.
"I wanted to go into commercial lending because the leaders of the bank were headed that way," she said. Ms. McCague became a commercial lending officer at Atlantic's headquarters in 1980. She arrived at First Union in 1985, when it acquired Atlantic.
Mr. Reid has been a First Union employee since graduating from Wake Forest University in 1978. His first position was as a commercial lender; he later became a commercial banking manager in First Union's Hickory, N.C. office, and area executive there.
In 1993, Mr. Reid was named to head the Tennessee unit.
