Biography

Early life

Hugh Michael Durden was born April 15, 1943, in

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statist ...

, but graduated from

Marietta High School (Georgia) Marietta High School is a public high school in Marietta, Georgia, United States, part of the Marietta City School District as the only high school inside the city limits. The school's mascot is the Blue Devil. History In 1886, ''The Macon Tel ...

in 1961. He attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, graduated in 1965, and was commissioned as an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. He spent five years from 1965 to 1970 as a naval aviator, including tours in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. After his military discharge, he spent two years at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

’s School of Business, earning an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in 1972. He married his wife, Jacqueline in 1967 and the union bore five children: Jacqueline, Hugh, Charles, Teresa, and Wendy.

Banking

During 1972, he was hired by

Wachovia Bank Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...

and advanced to company president. In 1994 he was named president of Wachovia Corporate Services, a position he held until his retirement in 2001. and executive vice president of Wachovia Corporation.

Boards

In 1997, he was appointed as corporate trustee from Wachovia, serving on the board of the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust and was elected to the board of directors of the

Nemours Foundation The Nemours Foundation is a non-profit organization in Jacksonville, Florida, created through the last will and testament of philanthropist Alfred I. du Pont by his widow Jessie Ball duPont in 1936, and dedicated to improving the health of c ...

in July, 1997. After retiring from Wachovia, Durden was elected as an individual trustee and chairman of the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust in 2005, a position he still holds.

St. Joe

In 2000, he was elected to the board of the

St. Joe Company The St. Joe Company is a land development company headquartered in Panama City Beach, Florida. Founded in 1936 and until 1966 known as St. Joe Paper Company, the company still operates a forestry division but is primarily engaged in real estate ...

where he chaired the compensation committee and was a member of the audit committee. He was elected board chairman and served from August, 2008 to March, 2011. He was interim CEO at St. Joe from March to June, 2011 and left the board in May, 2012.

Others

Durden is on the board of directors for Web.com Group and remains active in several non-profit organizations including Camp Boggy Creek and Chairman of the ''Investment for the EARTH'' of the

EARTH University EARTH University (Universidad EARTH, ''Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda'') is a private, non-profit university that offers one program of study: an undergraduate ''licenciatura'' degree in agricultural sciences. The universit ...

Foundation in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. Chairman of the Board of Liberty Aerospace Company, Inc. He is a member of World Affairs Council Jacksonville.

References

External links

Bio at Nemours
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durden, Hugh M. 1943 births Living people American bankers People from Jacksonville, Florida People from Marietta, Georgia Princeton University alumni Tulane University alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War