Richard M. Adams is Executive Chairman of the Board of United Bankshares, Inc. and the Chairman of the Board of United Bank.
Adams has worked in the banking industry for more than 50 years and successfully served as the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for 45 years before becoming Executive Chairman. A Parkersburg native, he is a graduate of West Virginia University and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. He began his banking career as a Management Trainee with Wachovia Bank and Trust in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Later, he returned to his roots in West Virginia to join The Parkersburg National Bank. At the age of 29, he was named President and CEO of what was The Parkersburg National Bank (predecessor to United), a single-office, $100 million in assets, community bank. Under Adams’ leadership as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, United completed 33 acquisitions and currently has assets of approximately $29.5 billion, 3,000 team members and nearly 250 banking and mortgage offices located throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Washington, D.C. United Bank, headquartered in Vienna, Va., is the largest state-chartered bank headquartered in the Commonwealth.
Richard Adams is a member of the Bank Policy Institute, the World President’s Organization, and is a Board Member of the WV United Health System. Adams is a Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Business Roundtable, the WV Chamber of Commerce, WV Kids Count and Eastern States Bankcard Association in New York. He has been a member of the International Financial Conference and served on the American Bankers Association Governing Council. Adams also served on the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Regional Advisory Council, the Young President’s Organization of America and the Rotary Club. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the UBSI Board.
In 2020, Adams received the Washington Business Journal’s CEO COVID Response Leader Award. In addition, Adams has been inducted into the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame and has been honored as a recipient of the Ernst & Young “Lifetime Achievement Award” and the Executive Magazine CEO of the Year Award. Adams was selected by Morningstar, Inc. as one of three nominees nationwide for their CEO of the Year Award and was ranked #20 in the Washington Business Journal “Power 100” listing. He also has published articles in various national banking journals. Adams was a member of the U.S. Army Reserves and served on the Vestry of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.