Mark Schroeder, who has been CEO of German American Bancorp in Jasper, Indiana, for the past 22 years, will step down from that role and become executive chairman of the company on Jan. 1.
Schroeder will be succeeded as CEO by Neil Dauby, who currently serves as president and chief operating officer. Chief Financial Officer Bradley Rust will play an expanded role, serving as COO while continuing to fulfill his CFO duties.
Dauby, who joined the $5.2 billion-asset German American in 2001, was named COO in January. Before that, he served five years as executive vice president and chief commercial banking officer.
Rust has been CFO since 2005. He joined the company in 1999, following its acquisition of $259.6 million-asset 1st Bancorp in Vincennes, Indiana.
“Having worked with both Neil and Brad for more than twenty years, I have the utmost confidence in their ability to lead German American to even greater levels of success in the coming years,” Schroeder said Thursday in a press release.
Schroeder plans to retire as executive chairman midway through 2022, though he will remain on the board as chairman until the end of his term in 2023. Schroeder has spent his entire 49-year banking career at German American, starting as a vault teller in 1972.
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German American had $293.6 million of assets when Schroeder succeeded George Astrike as CEO on Jan. 1, 1999. Full-year net income for 1998 was $4.9 million. German American’s profit for the first quarter of 2021 was $19.1 million; the company has never reported a full-year loss during Schroeder’s tenure as CEO.
Piper Sandler Analyst Nicholas Cucharale ranks German American among the best banks he covers.
“Mark Schroeder is a well-respected leader, and we are sorry to see him go although we are thankful that he will remain on as chairman to aid with the transition,” Cucharale said in a research note published Thursday.
“We know Mr. Dauby and believe he will be an excellent successor,” Cucharale added. “We have every reason to believe in his ability to keep German American on a strong trajectory.”
