Bank of America appointed Jim Fitterling and Bill Thomas to its board of directors, effective immediately, on October 21. Reuters reported the additions, and the bank’s announcement describes the experience each brings. The pair of appointments fills seats left earlier in the year by directors Pierre de Weck and Linda Hudson, who retired after reaching the company’s age-75 limit, according to Reuters.
Fitterling, 65, is executive chairman of Dow and led the company as CEO from 2018 to 2026. He previously served as Dow’s president and chief operating officer, and has been on 3M’s board since 2021, becoming lead director in 2024. Thomas, 58, was global chairman and CEO of KPMG International from 2017 to 2026. His background includes audit, accounting and financial reporting, along with senior roles at KPMG in the Americas and Canada.
Bank of America chair and CEO Brian Moynihan welcomed both as experienced leaders of large global organizations. Lead independent director Lionel Nowell said their complementary experience would strengthen board oversight of the company’s long-term strategy. The company’s announcement specifically points to Fitterling’s work in a complex, evolving industrial sector and Thomas’s financial reporting and audit expertise. It also describes the appointments as the result of a continuing succession and board-refreshment process.
The appointments do not alter the bank’s executive leadership team; they add two directors to the body responsible for oversight. For Fitterling, the new seat sits alongside his ongoing Dow chair role and 3M board service. For Thomas, it follows a decade leading KPMG’s global network. The announcement does not specify the length of either board term.
This is another boardroom change for a large global company, following the appointment we covered when Nike added Alexandre Arnault to its board. At Bank of America, the two directors arrive with distinct but complementary operating and financial backgrounds, as the bank continues its stated board-renewal process.
Fitterling’s record also includes more than four decades at Dow and board service at 3M, where he is lead director. Thomas led a professional-services network of roughly 265,000 people in 143 countries and oversaw a multibillion-dollar investment program during his KPMG tenure. Those details, cited by the bank, help explain why the company described the appointments as complementary: one brings industrial operating experience, the other a long view of audit and financial reporting.
