Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation President/CEO Jeffrey Schmid to lead Kansas City Fed

President and CEO of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation at SMU Cox School of Business Jeff Schmid has been appointed president and CEO of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. Schmid has been a member of the Cox School’s Executive Board since 2007 and will continue to serve on the Board. Read here for details.

Jeff Schmid headshot
Jeffrey R. Schmid, president and COO, Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation (SWGSB) at SMU’s Cox School of Business

DALLAS (SMU) – Jeffrey R. Schmid, president and chief executive officer of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation (SWGSB) at the SMU Cox School of Business, will assume the position of  beginning August 21, 2023.

Schmid began his career in the Kansas City office at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1981, and graduated from the SWGSB summer residence program at SMU Cox in 1990. He went on to become president and CEO of two closely held banks in the Midwest before leading in 2007 the establishment of Mutual of Omaha Bank, a wholly owned investment of Mutual of Omaha, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer.

He became president and CEO of the SWGSB Foundation in September 2021. Thousands of financial services professionals have attended SWGSB banking management programs since its founding in 1957 and participants fill the senior ranks of financial institutions, bank regulatory agencies, and bank-affiliated organizations throughout North America and abroad.

“Jeffrey Schmid has elevated the profile of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation and its relationship with SMU. Both are stronger than ever before,” said Jill Castilla, chair of the SWGSB Board of Trustees and president and CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond.  “Jeffrey’s leadership placed us on a higher trajectory for success, and we look forward to building on that momentum. To that end, we have engaged the executive search firm of Lochlin Partners to guide our search for our next president and CEO.”

Partnered with the SMU Cox School of Business, the Foundation offers corporate-level bank management education year-round. Senior staff have over 50 years of experience designing, marketing, and orchestrating national seminars for the banking and financial services industry.

“It’s been my pleasure to work closely with Jeff, both in my role as dean of the Cox School and as a member of the SWGSB Board of Trustees,” said Matthew B. Myers, dean of the SMU Cox School of Business. “SWGSB is a strong partner for SMU Cox, and Jeff has done a phenomenal job at the helm. As much as we hate to see him go, we are so proud of his move into this critical position at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City where his years of banking experience and keen leadership abilities will shape monetary policy and serve the greater public good.”

Schmid is a longtime member of the SMU Cox School of Business Executive Board. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska. His involvement with the SWGSB Foundation is long established, including service as past chairman of its Board of Trustees. He received the SWGSB Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2006 – one of only seven other graduates to receive the honor in the organization’s 64-year history. He has also been a SWGSB faculty member and was Dean for Bankers at SWGSB.