esmith19@nul.org
Speaker Bio
Eric Smith is the chief operating officer of Fifth Third Bank (Chicago), which includes more than $9.7 billion in assets. He is responsible for the growth and strategic alignment of the bank’s commercial, wealth & asset management and consumer businesses to deliver value to Fifth Third customers and community impact in the region. Smith joined Fifth Third in October 2016 after serving as the chief financial officer of middle market banking at JPMorgan Chase. Before that, Eric was a managing director in the Investment Bank, where he served as the head of the North American Food & Beverage Group. He also was responsible for advising Fortune 500 consumer product companies on merger and acquisition transactions, as well as debt and equity underwritings.
Smith is chairman of the board for the Chicago Urban League and is an active board member of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Public Education Fund. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Howard University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.