Kessel D. Stelling, Jr.

Kessel D. Stelling Jr. retired as Synovus Financial Corp.’s executive chairman and CEO at year end 2022, culminating nearly five decades leading innovation, change, and growth in the financial services industry. Stelling remains an advisor to the company’s executive leadership team and board of directors.

Stelling led Synovus’ Atlanta-area markets as regional CEO beginning mid-2008 and became Synovus president and chief operating officer by early 2010. In October that same year, he also became president and CEO and then chairman in January 2012 through April 2021. He served as executive chairman until his retirement December 31, 2022. Stelling joined the bank in 2006 when Atlanta-based Riverside Bancshares, Inc., where he served as chairman and CEO, merged with Synovus’ Bank of North Georgia.

Stelling guided Synovus through several historical and transformational milestones and challenges, including the Great Recession and the bank’s return to sustained profitability. To strengthen its competitive positioning and drive future growth, Stelling led the consolidation of 30 separate legacy bank charters into one and 26 separate bank brands into a single Synovus brand. During 2020 and 2021, he successfully guided the company through both the global pandemic and time of volatile social unrest.

During Stelling’s tenure, Synovus was recognized as Best Southeast Regional Bank by Money Magazine, America’s Most Reputable Bank by American Banker and the Reputation Institute (now RepTrak) and designated as a Great Place to Work by the Great Place to Work Institute. He has received numerous individual honors, including the Leadership Character Award by the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership and the Blue Key Service Award by the University of Georgia Chapter of the Blue Key National Honor Society. Georgia Trend named Stelling among the 100 Most Influential Georgians from 2009-2021, and he was designated a Distinguished Alumni by the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.

Stelling serves on the CEO advisory board of Workday, Inc., and on the University of Georgia Foundation Board of Trustees. He formerly served on the executive committee and board of Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of the Southern Company, and on the University of Georgia Athletic Association Executive Committee. He was a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, past chair and member of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and treasurer and executive committee member of the Bank Policy Institute. He has also served on many distinguished civic and nonprofit organization boards, including the Georgia Historical Society, where he is now a member of the Endowment Trust Board, and the Georgia, Cobb County and Metro Atlanta Chambers of Commerce, where he also served as chair for each. A proud UGA alumni with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in banking and finance, he is also a graduate of the Louisiana State University's Graduate School of Banking and holds an honorary doctorate in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.

Married to Carol, they are the proud parents of two sons and enjoy spending time with their five grandchildren.