Name Charles Gifford | Spouse Anne Dewing (m. 1964) | |
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Education Princeton University (1964) Parents Clarence H. Gifford, Priscilla Kilvert Similar People Ken Lewis, Brian T Moynihan, James Dimon, Salmon P Chase | ||
Charles K. Gifford is an American businessman, the Chairman Emeritus of Bank of America, and serves on its Board of Directors. He is also a corporate director of CBS Corporation and Director at Partners HealthCare.
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Professional History
Gifford did not have aspirations to become a banker himself. A New England blue blood, he spent summers in Nantucket. Gifford chose banking as a profession only after he fell in love with Anne Dewing and wanted to marry. He began his banking career in New York City, where many companies provided graduate school-like training. He worked at Chase Manhattan from 1964 to 1966 before joining Bank of Boston, where he cultivated a career.
At Bank of Boston Gifford worked in commercial lending, first as a loan officer in 1967, then in various vice president positions. From 1975 to 1977 he headed corporate lending at the London, England, office. In Boston he became the executive of the Corporate Banking Group in 1984. After two years as vice chairman, the company promoted him to president in 1989, with Ira Stephanian as chief executive officer.
Throughout more than 40 years as a bank executive, Gifford showed a capacity to make decisions that fit the requirements of the economic and business environment of the time. Whether the situation demanded attention to the needs of customers, management reorganization, or negotiation of substantial merger agreements, Gifford displayed an openness to change.
His interpersonal skills and genuine liking for people fostered success as well. Though he grew up in a wealthy New England family, he conducted himself with understanding and concern for associates and customers from all social backgrounds.
Education
Gifford holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History from Princeton University in 1964, year he married his wife, Anne.
Personal life
The son of Clarence H. (banker) and Priscilla Culvert, he married Anne Dewing in 1964. They have four children, one of whom is the previous openly gay U.S Ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford.
Gifford, his parents and three siblings were passengers in the first-class cabin on the SS Andrea Doria when it collided with the Swedish liner MS Stockholm and sank off Nantucket in 1956. The Giffords all survived the accident, which claimed 46 lives.