SW Graduate School of Banking Announces Additions to Its Board of Trustees

H. Gary Blankenship, Chairman and CEO of Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc. and Bank of the West, and Emily Greenwald, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, join roster of highly respected leaders

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The SW Graduate School of Banking (SWGSB) at SMU Cox has added two new trustees to its board roster of highly respected advisors. H. Gary Blankenship, Chairman and CEO of Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc. and Bank of the West, and Emily Greenwald, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, were named to the SWGSB Board of Trustees at the meeting on January 29, 2026.

“We are honored to welcome our new trustees, whose experience and perspective strengthen SWGSB’s leadership and impact within the community banking industry,” said SWGSB President and CEO William T. Chittenden, Ph.D. “We look forward to their counsel as we build on our legacy and continue to elevate the educational experience we provide as the nation’s premier graduate school of banking. We also thank Jill Castilla, president and CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond and chairman of Citizens Bancshares, Inc., Brad E. Cheves, president and CEO of Dallas Regional Chamber, and Jelena McWilliams, president of Corporate and External Affairs for Plaid, for their service to SWGSB as they rotate off our board of trustees.”

H. Gary Blankenship
Chairman and CEO
Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc. and Bank of the West

H. Gary Blankenship has been chairman and CEO of Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc., and Bank of the West since chartering the bank in 1986. Blankenship continues to be active in the bank, particularly in strategic planning and M & A activities.

He was previously employed as president and CEO of two other banks and served several years in the corporate structure of large Texas banking organizations as an officer and director. Prior to his public banking career, he served as an officer and manager of two finance companies located in West Texas. He then served for eight years with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as a national bank examiner based in Denver where he performed bank examinations in the United States and abroad. He has served on the Texas Department of Banking Commissioner’s Council, as a trustee on the Independent Bankers Association of Texas Insurance Bond Trust, and as a director of National Bancshares of Texas, Inc. He previously served on the board and as vice chairman of Adfitech, a mortgage technology and consulting company. Blankenship served as past chairman of the board and currently serves as a director of TIB, a $2.9 billion asset bank that serves as a national community correspondent bankers’ bank.

Blankenship was the recipient of the prestigious Chairman’s Award for the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. In 2013, he and his wife, Cynthia Blankenship, who is also a banker and co-founder of the bank, were named recipients of the prestigious D. E. Box Citizens of the Year Award in Grapevine, Texas. He was named in the top 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2016 and 2017.

Blankenship graduated from West Texas State University, now known as West Texas A&M, with a BBA in Finance and Accounting and received his MBA from the University of Dallas in 1982.

Emily Greenwald
Senior Vice President
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Emily Greenwald is senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas with responsibility for Banking Supervision and Regulation, and Credit, Risk, and Reserves Management. Before joining the Dallas Fed in 2023, she spent 17 years at the Chicago Fed, where she served as senior vice president for national programs, policy, and risk in the Supervision and Regulation Department.

She began her career at the Chicago Fed examining community banks and progressed into leadership roles that included capital markets oversight and supervising regional and large banks. In 2009, Greenwald was awarded the William Taylor Award for Excellence in Banking Supervision.

Greenwald is a commissioned bank examiner and holds both an MBA and a BA from Southeast Missouri State University.

ABOUT THE SW GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BANKING AT SMU COX

Since 1957, the nationally recognized SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB) has educated and empowered community bankers in all positions, regulators, experienced, new, and aspiring bank directors, and other financial services professionals with knowledge and relationships that strengthen careers, organizations, and communities. SWGSB is a nationally recognized leader in banking and commercial lending education, bank management training, and bank director training programs. Learn more at swgsb.org or call 214.768.2991 for more information.