J Stanley Mackin

Former Regions Bank CEO James Stanley Mackin Sr. died Friday June 11 2021 at age 88. A graduate of Auburn University and a Naval veteran, Mackin is credited with coming up with the name of the company. Born on July 30, 1932 in Birmingham Alabama, Mackin grew up on the city’s Southside. After earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial management at Auburn, he continued his studies at Rutgers and Oklahoma. After retiring as a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1961, he worked in construction and real estate before moving to the commercial loan department with Birmingham’s Exchange Security Bank. By 1971, he was serving as the head of his division in the then-First Alabama Bank. He is credited with the name “Regions Bank” after he and his team spent months pouring through dictionaries for the right name. Regions made the cut because it described the bank’s market. In 1986, he was elected CEO and chairman of the bank’s board, as well as central region president of Regions Financial Corp. In 1990, he became president and COO, then chairman and CEO of Regions Financial Corp. Mackin retired as CEO in 1998 and retired from the board in 2001. In 1996, the J. Stanley Mackin Eminent Scholar Chair in the College of Business at Auburn University was established in his name by the bank’s board of directors.