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Gerald J. Ford
Pampa High School Class of 1962
Gerald J. Ford was born in Pampa, Texas in 1944. He is the son of Coyle and Hazel (Del) Ford. Gerald presently resides in Dallas and is the father of four children.
Mr. Ford has been the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and a principal shareholder of California Federal Bank, a Federal Savings Bank (formerly known as First Nationwide Bank) since 1994. California Federal Bank is a California based Federal Savings Bank with some 224 branches in California, Nevada and Florida with approximately $30 billion in assets. Currently, California Federal Bank is proposing to merge with Golden State Bancorp, creating the second largest savings bank in the nation and the fourth largest financial institution in California, with approximately $51 Billion in assets and 370 branches. Mr. Ford will become the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.
In 1988, Mr. Ford led an investor group that acquired five insolvent thrifts that formed First Gibraltar Bank, FSB, at which time Mr. Ford became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. First Gibraltar was at one time the largest thrift and the fourth largest financial institution in the States of Oklahoma and Texas, with total assets of approximately $1 1.0 Billion. In January 1993, First Gibraltar sold substantially all of its deposit operations to Bank of America. In September 1994, First Madison Bank (formerly First Gibraltar) acquired First Nationwide Bank, the seventh largest thrift in the country with total assets of approximately $15.0 billion, and changed its name to First Nationwide Bank. From 1975 to 1994, Mr. Ford was a principal shareholder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of First United Bank Group, Inc., a multi-bank holding company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. First United had banks throughout New Mexico and the western portion of Texas, with total assets of approximately $4.0 Billion. Norwest Corporation purchased First United in January 1994.
Mr. Ford is Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and a principal shareholder of Liberte Investors Inc., a NYSE company; a Director of McMoRan Oil & Gas Company, a NYSE company, and Aames Financial Corporation, a NYSE company. In addition, Mr. Ford is the President and owner of Diamond A-Ford Corporation, Diamond A Racing Corporation and Ford Diamond Corporation, which serves as a general partner of Ford family partnerships. He is a Director of First Nationwide Mortgage Corporation, a national provider of mortgage loan servicing, President and Director of First Nationwide (Parent) Holdings, Inc., and Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of California Federal Preferred Capital Corporation.
Mr. Ford has served as a Trustee of Southern Methodist University and Children's Medical Foundation, as a member of the Dallas Citizens' Council, as Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of SMU's Dedman College and as a director of the Dallas Boys & Girls Clubs, Inc. Mr. Ford is also a past member of the Board of Regents of the Texas A & M University System, Texas Tech University and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Mr. Ford received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from SMU in 1966 and his law degree from SMU's School of Law in 1969. In 1995, Mr. Ford was honored as a Distinguished Alumni of Southern Methodist University.