James Montgomery ’57

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As chairman and chief executive officer, James Montgomery has had a key role in making Great Western Financial Corporation into one of the nation’s most respected thrift companies. Largely due to Montgomery’s leadership, Great Western Savings and Loan Association is now second largest in the country in terms of year-end assets. In recent years, a time of crisis for the S&L industry, Great Western has reported record earnings and is known to have one of the industry’s strongest capital-to-assets ratios.

Highly regarded by his peers, Montgomery has often been called upon to lead important business and government groups. He is an adviser to the Federal Reserve System and a former director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. He has also served as a director of the California Taxpayers Association and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

Financial World magazine has recognized Montgomery’s achievements by naming him “CEO of the Year for Western Banks.” Harvard Business School Association of Southern California honored him as 1987 Business Statesman of the Year. A UCLA graduate in accounting, Montgomery is one of his alma mater’s most dedicated supporters. He is a member of The UCLA Foundation Board of Trustees and is active with the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Montgomery is also a community leader. He is a founding director of the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center Foundation and an executive board member of the Boy Scouts of America, Los Angeles Area Council. He is involved in various projects designed to help provide affordable housing to inner-city residents, using his considerable talents to improve the lives of those less fortunate.