Forty Under 40: Arthur Thurman

Arthur Thurman earned a bachelor’s degree in finance management from the University of Arkansas in 1984. He had already started graduate school in 1985, when the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency extended him an offer.

Thurman, 38, spent the next 11 years as a national bank examiner. He analyzed national banking organizations from Comptroller offices in Little Rock, Dallas and for eight of those years in Tulsa. He said banking’s turbulent mid-1980s made for a great learning experience.

“So much was going on that was eye opening,” said Thurman, who in 1989 completed the five-year process of becoming a commissioned national bank examiner for the U.S. Department of Treasury. A year later, he was employee of the year for the Tulsa office.

In 1996, the Siloam Springs native returned to Northwest Arkansas. He became vice president of commercial lending for First National Bank of Springdale. Eighteen months later, he was managing the department.

Thurman is a devout family man and is active in Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale. He’s on the Springdale chamber’s leadership council and is a graduate of Leadership Springdale.

He said he’s most proud of his bank’s strides in customer service.