Title. President and CEO, Robert Morris Associates
Duties. Took over Sept. 1 as the commercial lending group's chief executive, succeeding Clarence Reed, who retired after 37 years.
Mission: To build on RMA's role as a provider of credit training and, in particular, developing superior risk management standards. Says he hopes to help lenders cut down on "type one and type two" errors--bad loans that shouldn't have been made and good loans that weren't made.
Value orientation: Says bankers are busier than ever, and RMA needs to provide help without putting added demands on their time. Will push for more short sessions and distribution of CD-ROMs for individual training. We need to create great value."
Quasi-outside: Historically, RMA's non-staff leaders have risen through the local chapters. Sanborn didn't do that, though he did take part in RMA roundtables and forums. Calls them excellent networking opportunities" that raise important issues in a non-competitive setting. Salutes banker volunteers, who he says "have really made this organization." Says he plans to be a more visible spokesman than Reed was.
Background: Sanborn, 53, spent the bulk of his 29-year banking career at Bank of America, where in 21 years he rose to vice chairman in charge of the commercial markets group, with responsibility for middle market, real estate, domestic private banking and business services. In 1992, he moved east to become vice chairman for commercial lending at Shawmut National Corp. and president of its Boston bank. Spent the first five years of his career at Mellon Bank and Citibank.
Homecoming: Philadelphia is a short hop from where Sanborn grew up, on a farm on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, and his education was in Pennsylvania--an undergraduate degree from Gettysburg College and MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. Says he's "hoping the winters will be a little milder than they were in Boston."
