J. French Hill

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that J. French Hill pursued a banking career.

“I grew up around banking and finance my whole life,” said Hill, a third generation banker. “I’ve enjoyed the daily diversity of it all.”

His professional travels have taken him from working summers at the Little Rock investment banking firm of Hill Crawford & Lanford to helping foster capitalism in eastern Europe as a financial diplomat.

The Little Rock businessman took the helm of Delta Trust & Banking Corp. in 1999.

As chairman and chief executive officer, Hill oversees a $160 million-asset operation with three offices in Little Rock and one each in Bella Vista, Gravette, Hamburg, Parkdale, Wilmot and Eudora.

Career highlights outside of Arkansas include serving on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs (1982-84), working at the Dallas investment banking firm of Mason Best Co. (1984-89) and serving as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C. (1989-91) and special assistant to the president (1991-93).

Hill returned to Little Rock to work at First Commercial Corp. and was overseeing the trust company and broker-dealer operation in 1999 when he left to form Delta Trust.

His charitable résumé includes president and trustee of the George W. Donaghey Foundation and commissioner of the Historic Arkansas Museum as well as work with Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the Boy Scouts of America, the Arkansas Arts Center and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

“My first passion has been the arts and humanities,” said Hill, a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.. “Arkansas history is something I am passionate about.”

His work to expand Little Rock’s Historic Arkansas Museum resulted in his receiving the Edwin N. Hanlon Memorial Award for Outstanding Business Leader.

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