THS alum Tommy Powell was named director of the Robbins Banking Institute at FHSU and the director of the Kansas Bankers Education Foundation through the Kansas Bankers Association. He is a 2020 graduate from the FHSU Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting.

Powell was born in Lyons and grew up in Tonganoxie. He graduated from THS in 2002. He now lives in Hays with his wife, Chelsea, and 3-year-old son, Thomas.

The FHSU Alunni Association website featured Powell with the announcement of his new position at Fort Hays State.

A question-and-answer profile of Powell on the alumni page provided a closer look at Powell’s journey from Tonganoxie to Hays.

Powell explained how his career path led him to Hays.

“Honestly, I fell into finance and banking as a career,” Powell said. “I had a series of jobs with little opportunity for advancement when a friend of mine reached out to see if I wanted to join him in doing residential mortgages during the first refi (refinance) boom. This was my first foray into the financial industry.”

Powell decided to attend FHSU following a family move from the Kansas City area.

“My wife took a position as a pediatrician at HaysMed, and we moved from Kansas City to Hays,” Powell said in the Q-and-A feature. “Since no mortgage consultant openings were open then, I decided to return to school and finish the degree I had started years before.”

The THS alum listed placing fourth nationally in the financial planning competition as one of his favorite memories as an FHSU Tiger.

Powell also talked about being the son of civil servants, his father a police officer and his mother an elementary school teacher, and how he learned the value of hard work, proper planning and financial awareness through his parents.

According to an FHSU press release about Powell’s director position, he has more than a decade of sales and support experience in the banking industry and completed his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in finance in 2020. He’s also completed classes in the Robbins Banking Institute program.

He also was a commercial lender at Commerce Bank’s regional office in Hays. His office is in the Robbins Banking Institute Center on the FHSU campus.

“We are excited to have Tommy lead the initiatives of the Robbins Banking Institute,” said Dr. Dosse Toulaboe, FHSU Chair of the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting. “He is already familiar with our banking program and has the banking industry experience and connections to help the Robbins Banking Institute achieve its goals.”

FHSU also has allowed Powell to fulfill a family pledge.

“Before he passed away, I promised my father I would find a way to return to school and finish my degree,” Powell said. “FHSU allowed me to keep that promise, and that was one of the driving reasons that I returned to campus to take the directorship of the Robbins Banking Institute.”