Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 28, 2002
STEVEN E. TRAGER is President and Chief Executive Officer of Republic
Bancorp, Inc., and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Republic
Bank. After completion of undergraduate studies at the University of
Texas at Austin where he received his BA degree in Finance, Mr. Trager
went on to receive his JD degree from the University of Louisville
School of Law. For a period of two years, he was associated with the law
firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs. Mr. Trager then joined Republic in May
1987, where he brought diverse skills in the areas of both law and
finance. In 1994, Mr. Trager provided the leadership resulting in the
complex merger and reorganization of the Republic group into its current
unitary corporate banking structure. Also in 1994, Mr. Trager was
appointed Vice Chairman of the bank's holding company, Republic Bancorp.
In 1998 he was further appointed to the position of President and Chief
Executive Officer of Republic Bancorp. In July 1998, Mr. Trager provided
the leadership for Republic Bancorp's public offering. He also serves as
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Republic Bank where he remains
actively involved in the operation and retail management of Republic's
34 banking centers in Kentucky and Indiana, with total assets of over
$2.3 billion and $1 billion in trust assets under custody and
management. Mr. Trager is a Board member, Committee member and Vice
Chairman for the Kentucky Bankers Association, and a Board member of the
Fund for the Arts, Jewish Hospital, Kentucky Hospital Association,
University of Louisville Board of Overseers, Louisville Bar Foundation,
the Jefferson Club and Leadership Kentucky. He is also involved in local
community nonprofit organizations and was the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation's Man of the Year in 2003. Mr. Trager received the 2003 Ernst
& Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southern Ohio and
Kentucky region. Mr. Trager was inducted into the Atherton High School
Alumni Association's Hall of Fame Class of 2004. Profile
introduction to Republic Bancorp?
Mr. Trager: We had two $100 million acquisitions in the
mid-1980s. but predominantly through internal
