Cowsert announces retirement

W. Gregg Cowsert is retiring as vice chairman and chief credit officer of BancorpSouth, effective Sept. 30, 2011. Cowsert joined the company in 1990 in Hattiesburg as senior vice president and regional loan administrator for the Bank of Mississippi. The Bank of Mississippi later became BancorpSouth through a name change following the company’s expansion outside of Mississippi.

In 1992 he was promoted and transferred to the company’s corporate offices in Tupelo to assume loan administration responsibilities for the bank’s Mississippi markets. In 1996 Cowsert was promoted to executive vice president and later in the year to vice chairman and chief credit officer.

Following his graduation from Mississippi State University in 1970, where he received a B.S. degree in banking and finance, Cowsert began his banking career in Hattiesburg with First Mississippi National Bank as a management trainee.

Cowsert had been involved over the years in various industry and civic organizations and initiatives including the Robert Morris Associates, American Institute of Banking, Chambers of Commerce, Boy Scouts of America and the YMCA. He attended various schools and banking seminars, including the LSU School of Banking.