Dennis C. Bottorff

Dennis C. Bottorff, a trustee since 1990, received his B.A. in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt in 1966 and his M.B.A. from Northwestern University in 1968.

He began his career in banking in 1968 at Commerce Union Bank in Nashville and, in 1981 became president and in 1984 was elected chairman and CEO of Commerce Union Corporation and Commerce Union Bank. When Sovran Financial Corporation acquired Commerce Union Corporation in 1987, Mr. Bottorff was named vice chair and director and became president and chief operating officer in 1989. When Sovran was acquired by NCNB to form Nations Bank in 1991, he returned to Nashville to become president and CEO of First American and served until January 2001 as a chairman for AmSouth Bancorporation, after it acquired First American in October 1999. He is presently chairman of Council Ventures, a venture capital firm.

Active in a number of civic organizations, Mr. Bottorff is chairman of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation and serves on the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Formerly, he chaired the boards of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, the United Way, the Chamber of Commerce, the Nashville Symphony, and the Children’s Hospital. He also served on the board of the Sports Authority of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and on the Tennessee Titans Advisory Committee. Additionally, in the business arena, he has served on the boards of directors of the American Bankers Association, the Jack C. Massey School of Business, the Financial Services Roundtable, and Leadership Nashville. He also serves as director for Ingram Industries, Dollar General, and Benefit Informatics. He is currently a vice chairman of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust.

He and his wife, Jean, are the parents of Christian Todd and Dennis Chadwick and have three grandchildren.