Notre Dame’s Brian Moynihan named new Bank of America CEO

'I think we Irish try to have a good sense of humor, and I think you’ve got to be serious but not take yourself too seriously.'

• Interview / Brian Moynihan's interview with Irish America magazine / Click here

Notre Dame graduate Brian T. Moynihan, 49, will become Bank of America’s Chief Executive, it was announced yesterday, becoming head of the largest bank in the U.S. and capping a meteoric rise to the top.

Moynihan was honored by our sister publication, Irish America magazine, at their Wall Street 50 dinner this year and also by the American Ireland Fund.

Moynihan moved to Bank of America in 2004 when it was acquired by Fleet Boston Financial Corp. He currently heads Bank of America’s consumer and small-business banking division

Before that, he served in several key positions at the company, including general counsel during the stormy negotiations to take over Merrill Lynch at the height of the banking crisis.

“I’ve always thought I could do the job. I have experience in all the businesses, and most importantly I’ve worked to understand our company and what motivates this company,’’ Moynihan told the Boston Globe.

“He has excelled in every role, earning the loyalty and respect of customers and associates alike. In short, Brian brings the right combination of knowledge, experience and leadership to achieve all of our company’s goals for the future,’’ the bank’s chairman, Walter E. Massey, said last night.

 “This is a remarkable executive,’’ said Charles K. Gifford, a longtime Boston banker and a Bank of America director who served on the search committee. “I have little doubt that Brian Moynihan will emerge as one of the most influential and successful leaders in corporate America.’’

Moynihan traces his Irish roots back to the 1850’s. “Both my parents come from small towns in upstate New York where the Irish part of their families had farms and then opened some stores. My grandfather was a lawyer up there. My dad went to school and became a chemist to work or DuPont. I’m one of eight children, number six. My parents moved to a little town in Ohio, called Marietta the month before I was born.

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Nster.com