Dedicated family man, successful businessman, enthusiastic Penn State alumnus, and community leader, Ric Struthers is an executive vice chairman of Wilmington, Delaware-based MBNAAmerica Bank. A Dallas, Pa., native, Struthers graduated from the Smeal College of Business Administration in 1977 and the University of Virginia’s Retail School of Banking. As a member of MBNA’s executive committee, Struthers has more than 25 years of management experience in retail lending, and was a member of the management team that formed MBNA.

Struthers began his financial services career in 1978 at Maryland National Bank. In 1982, he was part of a team from Maryland National that moved to Delaware to start a credit card subsidiary called MBNA. The company opened with 155 people, fewer than 500,000 customers, and $159 million in managed loans. Twenty years later, Struthers has been instrumental in leading MBNA into becoming the largest independent credit card lender in the world with more than 28,000 people, 45 million customers, and nearly $100 billion in managed loans. Struthers has held several management positions throughout his career at MBNA, overseeing most of the major operating divisions of the company. He currently oversees corporate initiatives, control activities, and new business acquisitions.

In 1986, Struthers was asked to manage the endorsed marketing and telemarketing functions of the company. Struthers helped MBNA develop a unique and powerful marketing approach called endorsed marketing—selling to people with a strong common interest. MBNA identifies groups and organizations—like Penn State—that are made up of people that share a common bond and markets to their members under that group’s endorsement. MBNA pioneered the concept of endorsed marketing in the credit card industry and is now the recognized leader with the endorsements of more than 5,000 groups and organizations. In 1989, Ric was responsible for securing the endorsement of the Penn State Alumni Association—MBNA’s most successful college and university program today. The Alumni Association uses income from the agreement to support scholarships, teaching fellowships, alumni career services, and similar endeavors to help students, faculty, and alumni.

Struthers has served two terms on the Alumni Council, is a member of the Smeal College of Business Administration Board of Visitors, Volunteer Chairperson for the Penn State Annual Fund, and a member of the Grand Destiny Steering and Executive committees. In 1998, he was recognized as a Penn State Alumni Fellow.

Struthers was instrumental in securing MBNA’s commitment of $10 million to Penn State, designated to the MBNA Career Services Center, upgrading athletic facilities, endowing athletic scholarships, and the Hintz Family Alumni Center. Struthers also recently agreed to chair the Smeal College’s capital building campaign committee and made a significant contribution toward the future facility. In addition, the Struthers Family Scholarships support students from the Wilkes-Barre area and Wilmington, and a room in the MBNA Career Services Center is also named for the Struthers family.

Tireless in his work for community organizations, he serves on the Board of Directors of Emmaus House, a shelter for the homeless in Newark, Delaware, and on the Board of Directors of The Second Mile, which focuses on programs for at-risk Pennsylvania children. He is a co-chair of The Delaware Nature Society capital campaign, which raised over $7 million for environmental education, preservation, and conservation of natural resources in Delaware.

Struthers and his wife, Sharon, have three children: Corrie, Brice, and Ryan.

*This career summary is excerpted from the 2002 Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony booklet (2002, The Pennsylvania State University).