A. William Sands

Carlson School of Management, September 30, 2010

A. William Sands, chairperson of Western Bank, received a bachelor of business degree in accounting from the School of Management, now the Carlson School of Management at University of Minnesota in 1960. He is a recognized leader in the entrepreneurial business community and as a pioneer in the area of community banking. Sands returned to the Midwest to begin an illustrious career in banking after spending four years in the Navy and going on to get a MBA from Wharton School. For more than three decades, he led Western Bank, first as president and then as chairman. He has provided outstanding leadership on numerous groundbreaking efforts at low-income housing developments, small business development and non-profit management. He led the effort to create the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), an organization that works to build support for small resident owned businesses by providing extensive entrepreneur training. Since its inception, NDC has worked with eight ethnic communities and in more than 25 low-income neighborhoods. Sands led the Breakthrough Capital Campaign in 2009, which raises funds to assist tenants in the Midtown Global Market to ensure its long-term sustainability.