John A. Allison is Chairman of BB&T Corporation, the 10^th largest financial services holding company headquartered in the U. S.  Mr. Allison began his service with BB&T in 1971 and has managed a wide variety of responsibilities throughout the bank.  He became president of BB&T in 1987 and was elected Chairman and CEO in July 1989.  During Mr. Allison’s tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets. In March 2009, he joined the faculty of Wake Forest University School of Business as Distinguished Professor of Practice.

 Allison is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his undergraduate degree in business administration.  He received his master’s degree in management from Duke University.

 A native of Charlotte, N.C., Allison is married to the former Elizabeth McDonald of Elkin, N.C.  They have two sons and one daughter.