Spencer F. Eccles

Personal Biography:

Spence Eccles is the chairman of the George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and a trustee for the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation, the Marriner S. Eccles Foundation, the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation and the Spencer F. & Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation. Mr. Eccles graduated from the University of Utah in 1956, before serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry. He then earned a master’s degree in Banking and Finance from Columbia University. He worked briefly at the First National City Bank in New York before returning to Utah to join his uncles at First Security Bank. He moved through the ranks at First Security, serving as chairman and CEO for a number of years, until the company was sold to Wells Fargo in 2000. HE then became a member of the Wells Fargo Board of Directors, and chairman of the Wells Fargo Intermountain Banking Region. Mr. Eccles held these positions until August 2004, when he turned 70 and reached the mandatory retirement age for Wells Fargo. Mr. Eccles has received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Utah, Utah State University, Dixie College, Westminster College, and the College of Idaho. He is a member of the Utah Business Hall of Fame, and served on the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympics. Mr. Eccles has given just over $10,000 to the College of Business for the Spencer F. Eccles Innovation in Leadership Lecture Series, through the Spencer F. & Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation. The foundations that Mr. Eccles serves have given millions of dollars for various buildings, academic areas and programs across campus.