Iowa’s Hills Bank & Trust implements leadership succession plan

Iowa’s Hills Bancorporation and subsidiary Hills Bank and Trust Co. appointed Lisa Shileny as president and CEO. 

Shileny’s appointment is effective on Jan. 1. Shileny, who serves as president and chief operating officer of Hills Bank and Trust, was appointed COO at the end of 2021 and president in November of the following year. She was elected to the board of the company and bank in April 2023. 

Shileny replaces the retiring Dwight Seegmiller, who serves as president and CEO of the company and CEO of the bank. Seegmiller will transition to a management advisory position on Jan. 1, until his planned retirement in April. 

A lawyer by trade, Shileny’s career started in the private legal practice of Stanley, Lande and Hunter after she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central College in 1998. She received a law degree from the University of Iowa in 2002. 

Shileny also graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin and the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Seegmiller, who has been with the bank for nearly 50 years, has served as president and CEO for 38. He is credited with growing the bank’s total assets to $4.3 billion from $220 million in 1986.