Dennis C. Bottorff (born 1944) is an American businessman, banker and philanthropist. As chairman and chief executive officer of the

First American Corporation First American Financial Corporation is an American financial services company which provides title insurance and settlement services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The First American Family of Companies’ core business lines incl ...

, he was responsible for its merger with the

AmSouth Bancorporation AmSouth Bancorporation was a banking company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and operated for its final year in existence as a bank holding company (subsidiary) of Regions Financial Corporation after a merger between the two banks. AmSouth w ...

. He served as the chairman of the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

from 2010 to 2012. He is the co-founder and general partner of Council Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. He is also the co-founder and the chairman of CapStar Bank.

Early life

Bottorff was born in 1944. He graduated from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, where he received a Bachelor of Science in engineering in 1966. He received a master in business administration from the

Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

in 1968. He was elected to the Honorary Electrical Engineering Society – Eta Kappa Nu in 1966 and the Honorary Business School Society – Beta Gamma Sigma in 1968.

Career

Bottorff joined the Nashville-based Commerce Union Bank (which later was merged into

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

) in 1968. He served as its president from 1981 to 1984, and as president and chief executive officer from 1984 to 1987. Subsequently, he served as the president of the

Sovran Bank Sovran Bank was a US-based regional bank that operated in Virginia between 1983 and 1990, and was the leading subsidiary of Sovran Financial Corporation. It was itself a product of a merger between ''First & Merchants Bank'' of Richmond and ''Vir ...

. He was responsible for its 1990 merger with the

Citizens & Southern National Bank Citizens and Southern National Bank (C&S) began as a Georgia institution that expanded into South Carolina, Florida and into other states via mergers. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia; it was the largest bank in the Southeast for much of the 20th c ...

and served as president of the surviving organization. Bottorff served as the chief executive officer and president of the

from 1991 to 1999, and as its chairman from 1994 to 1999. He was responsible for its merger with the

, and served as its chairman until 2001. During the merger, he earned "$1.3 million a year in salary and bonuses" as well as AmSouth Bancorporation shares "valued at about $4.1 million." He also received "an annual retirement benefit of $1.25 million for the rest of his life." Bottorff co-founded Council Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm based in Nashville, in 2000. He served as a Managing General Partner from 2000 to 2016. He remains a senior advisor. Additionally, Bottorff co-founded the CapStar Bank in 2007. He serves as its chairman. He also serves as the chairman of NuScriptRX. He also served on the board of directors of

Ingram Industries Ingram Industries is a manufacturing company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The company consists of diversified businesses in marine transportation aggregate supply, book distribution, print on demand book manufacturing, management and di ...

from 1990 to 2015. He is the namesake of an Ingram Marine Group boat. Bottorff served on the boards of directors of the Tennessee Bankers Association and the

American Bankers Association The American Bankers Association (ABA) is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association for the U.S. banking industry, founded in 1875. They lobby for banks of all sizes and charters, including community banks, regional and money center banks, sav ...

. He also served on the board of the

Financial Services Roundtable The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is an American financial services lobbying and advocacy organization, based in Washington, D.C. The Bank Policy Institute was formed in July 2018 by the merger of two older lobbying groups, the Financial Services ...

. Additionally, he served on the board of directors of Dollar General and

Shoney's Shoney's is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It operates restaurants in 17 states, primarily in the South with additional locations in the Midwest and lower Mid-Atlantic states. Founder Alex Schoenbaum opene ...

Philanthropy

Bottorff has served on the board of trust of his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, since 1990 and as its vice chairman from 1999 to 2011 during which time he chaired the search committee for the 7th and 8th chancellor. He presently is a trustee emeritus. He and his wife donated US$1 million or more to the

Nashville Symphony The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra is resident at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. History In 1920, prior to the 1946 founding of the Nashville Symphony, a group of amateur an ...

for the construction of the

Schermerhorn Symphony Center The Schermerhorn Symphony Center is a concert hall in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Ground was broken on December 3, 2003. The center formally opened on September 9, 2006, with a gala concert conducted by Leonard Slatkin and broadcast by PBS ...

in 2006. He chaired the fundraising campaign to build the new center. He and his wife have donated over $700,000 to the United Way.¹⁹ Bottorff has served on and chaired the boards of the Nashville Symphony Association, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Middle Tennessee, the Tennessee Titans Advisory Board and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.²⁰ He has also served on the boards and served as the chairman of Partnership 2000, the Children's Hospital of Vanderbilt University and the Music City Bowl. He also served on the Boards of the Nashville Health Care Council, Nashville Sports Authority, Samaritan Center, Ensworth School, Norfolk Academy, Project Pencil, the Nashville Agenda and Inroads.²¹ Today he serves on the board of trustees of Leadership Nashville. and the advisory board of the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business at

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

.¹⁵

Personal life

Bottorff and his wife, Jean, have two children. His son, Todd, is the owner of the

Turner Publishing Company Turner Publishing Company is an American independent book publisher based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company is in the top 101 independent publishing companies in the U.S. as compiled bBookmarket.com and has been named four times to ''Publish ...

. His son, Dennis "Chad" Bottorff, co-founded Eakin Partners, a commercial real estate firm in Nashville, in 1999. His sons Todd and Chad also own a tequila company called TC Craft which is only in Nashville, Wyoming and Florida at the moment.

References

19. Wills II, Ridley, Copyright 2020, Chickering Road and its People, Chapter 34, Page 132. 20. 53rd Edition Volume 1, A-L, Who's Who in America, page 503. 21. Hunt, Keel, Crossing the Aisle: How Bipartianships Brought Tennessee to the Twenty-First Century and Could Save America, November 6, 2018, Vanderbilt University Press, pages 245–246, 249–250. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottorff, Dennis C. 1940s births Living people American bankers American Bankers Association Businesspeople from Tennessee American chairpersons of corporations American chief executives American corporate directors American financial company founders Kellogg School of Management alumni People from Nashville, Tennessee Philanthropists from Tennessee Tennessee Valley Authority Vanderbilt University alumni