10 Hoosier Banker January 2016 Continued from page 9. Hoosier Banker and other IBA items are on display in the office of Mike Head. “Part of our longevity is that we’ve been consistent in our leadership. In more than 111 years, I’m only the sixth president to serve.” What drew you to banking as a career? “In high school I had planned to go to Purdue University to become a pharmacist. I was the oldest of five kids, and my father said he could make it work. “But there was a lovely young lady involved, named Susan Worthington. She and I began dating when I was a senior at Reitz High School, and she was a junior at North High School. “I knew how hard my dad would have to work to put me through school, and I also knew I didn’t want to be so far away from Susan. So I went to Indiana State University at Evansville (now the University of Southern Indiana) and studied accounting, because that’s what Susan was going to study. It turns out I enjoyed finance and economics, considerably more than accounting. “Throughout my freshman year, I worked part-time in a tool and die shop to pay for school. At the end of my freshman year, my part-time job was no longer available, and Susan suggested I ask her father if he had any openings. “Susan’s father was C. Wayne Worthington. He was president of National City Bank (NCB) and chairman of the IBA. I was nervous, but I asked if he had any positions open. He asked me a couple of questions, then said, ‘Well, let me see.’ “Within a couple weeks and after several interviews, I was hired. My official title was messenger at the mail desk, but really I was a gopher – ‘go for’ this and ‘go for’ that. I would go to the post office early each morning, sort the mail, then deliver it to each department. I also would pick up interoffice mail and bring it to the mailroom. “Three times a day, I would distribute mail and supplies to the eight Evansville branches, then pick up the proof ‒ cashed checks ‒ and return to the main office. At the end of each month, I’d help deliver the commercial checking account statements to the downtown merchants. “Looking back, it was the best job for me, because it gave me the chance to meet every employee in each of the departments, at all of the branches. Other than HR, I was probably the only person who knew everybody in the bank.” How did your career develop? “At the end of the first year at NCB, I transferred to the all-night shift in the data processing department, where we processed the daily proof of NCB and 22 area correspondent banks on a brand new 1977 Honeywell operating system. “I’d report to work at 5 in the afternoon, in time for the checks to be dropped off around 5:30 p.m. By 6 a.m. the next morning, everything had to be done ‒ sorted, entered and balanced. I worked three nights a week, plus a couple of Saturdays each month. “During summer school of my junior year, I’d go to sleep on Sunday night, then get up and go to school on Monday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. After classes I’d have library time, then I’d go to the bank at 5 that evening and work through the night until 6:30 the next morning. By Tuesday morning, I was going to classes on Sunday night’s sleep. “Upon college graduation in May of 1980, Susan and I were engaged to be married, and my soon-to-be father-in-law informed me that it would be in my best interest to leave the bank. If I wanted to succeed, he said, I’d have to earn it myself. “Soon after I interviewed with Harold Duncan, executive vice president of First Federal Savings and Loan Association. He took a chance and hired me as a management trainee, starting July 14, 1980. Family photos and memorabilia line the window sill in Mike Head’s office.
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