Mr. Benny Merrell ’65 – Waxhaw, NC
Benny Merrell is retired, having completed a 35-year career with Bank of America. Mr. Merrell started as a management trainee with North Carolina National Bank, which later became Bank of America. He retired as an SVP and worked his entire career in the operations side of the company doing mergers and managing almost all back-office functions of the bank. His last major effort was to install image processing which changed the way customers interacted with banks causing the significant decline in the use of checks.
Mr. Merrell has a BA degree in Math and Physics from Pfeiffer University. He took many business courses as electives during his time at Pfeiffer, which led to his opportunity at North Carolina National Bank. Mr. Merrell was also very active in Student Government, was on the varsity basketball team, and was an officer in many clubs and organizations.
North Carolina National Bank was the first bank in the US to be allowed to bank outside its headquarters state. After acquiring banks in Florida, North Carolina National Bank transferred Mr. Merrell to Tampa to consolidate the operations of the acquired banks and to build the operational foundations for the state. In the six years he was in Florida, the bank in Florida alone grew from one billion to ten billion in assets. Mr. Merrell was later transferred to Texas to assist in the consolidation of back-office functions of the banks that were acquired in that state.
Mr. Merrell has always been active in his church and community. At various times he has been Chairman of the Administrative Board of a church, Chairman of the Pastor Parish Committee,
and served on many other church committees. He served as Treasurer of a Condo Association Board for 10 years and, as a result to a 20-year plan, an assessment was never required.
Mr. Merrell has served as Chairman of the Finance and Investment committees of Pfeiffer University multiple times. He has been in his current role of Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee for the past four years and has assisted in the Improvement of finances for the University. He has led many efforts to better understand the keys to financial stability for the University during the past four years, even attending a crucial accreditation meeting with the President and the CFO.