CHSS Alumni Service Award - Industry

CHSS Alumni Service Award - Industry

 

Shaza Andersen

BA Area Studies '89

Shaza Andersen serves as the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Trustar Bank.  

Most recently, Andersen served as the vice chair of the Board of Sandy Spring Bank. Prior to joining the Board, Andersen founded and served as chief executive officer of WashingtonFirst Bank. Andersen’s leadership grew the Bank from a single De Novo branch to over $2 billion in assets. Andersen completed the sale of WFBI to Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDQ: SASR) for $489M in stock. By dollar value, it is the largest banking deal in the Mid-Atlantic region and ranks among the 10 largest deals in the country.  

Andersen is a member of the Board of Directors of Forge Insurance, the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Port Authority and a past member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. She has also served on the Treasury Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia and on the FDIC Advisory Committee on Community Banking.   

Recognized by American Banker as one of the Top 25 Women to Watch and named a Top Banker by SmartCEO Magazine (twice), the ABC7 WJLA-TV & Toyota Dealers’ Tribute to Working Women award, named one of the Top 100 Powerful Women by Washingtonian Magazine (twice) and designated by the Washington Business Journal as one of their Power 100, 50 Fastest Growing Companies (twice), Women Who Mean Business, March of Dimes Corporate Heroine and Most Admired CEO. Capitol File Magazine selected Andersen for “The List” of prominent business and community leaders in the Washington, DC area and was recently awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from George Mason University. 

A favored and sought-after authority on banking and capital market issues, Andersen has appeared on CNBC and Fox News, and been featured in Forbes Magazine, the Washington Business Journal and Washingtonian Magazine