Retired businessman Mark Wright is co-recipient of the Order of the Golden Arrow at Mississippi College

Retired businessman Mark Wright is co-recipient of the Order of the Golden Arrow at Mississippi College

Mark Wright provided superb leadership during his career with banks and financial management firms in three states.

A 1968 Mississippi College graduate, the Jacksonville, Florida native believes in giving back to his alma mater. He and his wife, Lori, created a scholarship in the MC School of Business.

Wright retired in 2005 as chairman, president and CEO of USAA Federal Savings Bank. His career accomplishments over nearly four decades made the San Antonio, Texas resident an outstanding recipient of MC’s Order of the Golden Arrow Award.

Wright shares that honor during the university’s 2015 Homecoming with Don Locke, dean of the School of Education. They will be among the MC graduates saluted at the Alumni Awards dinner on October 23. The event begins at 6 p.m. at Anderson Hall on the Clinton campus.

Attending Mississippi College on a basketball scholarship, Wright proved to be a success on and off the court. Earning his degree in English at the Christian university, he moved to Dallas to begin his career with Republic Bank of Texas.

His first job was writing job descriptions for every employee, from bank teller to bank president. After six months, a nice promotion suddenly came his way. The bank’s CFO asked him to help him run the operations unit of the bank’s securities department.

The bank executive was seeking leadership skills and Wright accepted the challenge. Mark climbed the corporate ladder and became the youngest officer in the history of Republic Bank. His 37-year career in banking and financial management firms stretched from Texas and California to Oklahoma.

Today, he’s thankful for the education he received at the Baptist-affiliated university.

“That first opportunity I had in banking would never have happened without my degree from Mississippi College, but MC was a great place for me in so many other ways,” Wright told the university’s “Beacon” magazine. “One of the values most important to me when I came to MC was integrity, and MC reinforced that value in me.”

School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo lauded Wright for showing effective leadership during his career.

“This is the type of leadership that creates value and rewards stakeholders while always being entirely mindful of other stakeholders,” Eduardo said.

Wright is a wonderful choice for the university’s Order of the Golden Arrow Award, he says. The MC School of Business honored Wright with its award for Executive Excellence “to recognize his remarkable business career,” the dean added.

In the San Antonio area, Wright is active in key volunteer leadership roles in professional, civic and charitable organizations. He’s also served as a trustee at Mississippi College.

For more information on MC’s 2015 Homecoming, contact Lori Bobo of the Alumni Affairs office at 601-925-3252.