Kessel D. Stelling Jr. was born in Augusta, Georgia, on June 4, 1956, to Kessel Drewry Stelling and Charity Bennett Stelling. Carol Cusick was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 27, 1957, to Joseph and Mary Cusick. Kessel and Carol met at the University of Georgia and were married on August 2, 1980.
Kessel graduated from the University of Georgia 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.
Carol graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and later worked as an activity therapist at Ridgeview Institute in Atlanta. After retirement, she devoted her time to her family and to numerous civic and charitable organizations. She also served as a board member of the Wellstar Health System Foundation.
After a lengthy career in community banking, in 1996 Kessel founded Riverside Bancshares, Inc. and Riverside Bank where he served as Chairman and CEO. In March 2006, Riverside Bancshares was acquired by Synovus, where he led Atlanta area markets before becoming Synovus President and Chief Operating Officer in 2010. In October of that same year, he became CEO and then served as Chairman and CEO from January 2012 through April 2021. He served as executive chairman until his retirement on December 31, 2022. During his tenure, Synovus was named Best Regional Bank, Southeast, by Money magazine for 2016-2017, and recognized as America’s Most Reputable Bank by American Banker and the Reputation Institute in 2017.
Kessel 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 Kessel 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.
Kessel currently 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, 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, and the Georgia, Cobb County, and Metro Atlanta Chambers of Commerce, where he also served as chair for each.
The Stellings have two sons, Christopher Bennett Stelling (Kyle) and Andrew Mitchell Stelling (Caroline) and five grandchildren, Russ, Porter, Sally Ann, Maggie, and Katie.
Kessel and Carol established the Kessel D. and Carol C. Stelling Fund in 2026, ensuring that their commitment to Georgia history will continue in perpetuity.