Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business named Richard Green, chairman and CEO of Firstrust Bank, its 2017 Business Leader of the Year. A luncheon was held to celebrate Green on Thursday, April 20 at The Hyatt at The Bellevue.

Though Richard Green is now the CEO of Firstrust Bank, the business was actually established by his grandfather, Samuel A. Green, a Hungarian immigrant who taught himself to read and write English only after he moved to Philadelphia. Samuel Green established Firstrust Bank in 1934, and was eventually succeeded as CEO by his son, Daniel in 1970. In 1995, Daniel passed this role on to his own son, Richard.

Despite his legacy, Richard Green took his business education seriously, earning an MBA from Wharton and a JD from UPenn, before rising to CEO of one of the largest family-owned banks in the United States. After taking on this position, Green led his company through the Great Recession of 2008, emerging with even more capitol after under Green’s leadership.

When asked about thriving through the recession, Green said, “In the crisis, we had the opportunity to participate in a lot of things that didn’t seem right to us. We chose not to buy those tempting mortgage-backed securities that were rated AAA, but were filled with toxic mortgages. We try to do things that we understand…When we evaluated those mortgages, it didn’t make sense to us.”

The LeBow Business Leader of the Year Award was established in 1954, making Richard A. Green the 63rd award honoree.

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