Business, Media and Culture 2019

Jerry Host has worked his way to the top of one of the largest banks in Mississippi over the last 35 years. He is now president and chief executive officer of Trustmark Corporation and Trustmark National Bank in Jackson, Mississippi. He has served as chief operating officer, executive vice president and chief financial officer, chairman of the board of Trustmark Financial Services, Inc., executive vice president of the company’s consumer services group and chief investment officer.

Host has over 40 years of experience in the financial services industry, with 34 years served at Trustmark and prior to that, with First National Bank in Mobile, Alabama. Trustmark is a $13.8 billion financial services company with locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Texas.

He is a former member of the board of directors and served as Chair of the Audit and Operational Risk Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and is a past director of the New Orleans Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. He serves on the executive committee for Governor Bryant’s Mississippi Works initiative. He is past chairman of the Board of Governors of the Mississippi Economic Council and currently serves as President of the Mississippi Partnership for Economic Development. He is past Chair of the Mississippi Bankers Association and Past President of its Education Foundation. He currently serves on the Executive Committee. Host serves on the Leadership Cabinet of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership. He serves as chairman of the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge Mississippi Campaign and is past chairman of board of the Mississippi Museum of Art. Mr. Host is actively involved in many nonprofit organizations throughout the community.

He received his BA degree in economics from the University of South Alabama. He is a graduate of the National School of Financial & Funds Management at the University of Illinois and the Graduate School of Financial & Funds Management at the University of Oklahoma. He also received his Graduate Certificate from the LSU School of Banking. He is a graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina.