10/18/24

By University Communications

HAYS, Kan. - In its first year at Fort Hays State University, the Kansas Bankers Association brought its Young Bank Officers of Kansas (YBOK) Conference to the Robbins Center on Oct. 10.

The 16^th annual event featured leadership keynote speakers, a state and federal government relations update, an economic update from the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, and two leadership panels. More than 100 young Kansas bankers attended the conference.

Dr. Emily Lehning of Roots and Legacies Consulting, in a morning presentation, encouraged attendees to expand their leadership abilities by developing emotional intelligence skills.

“Emotional intelligence is the idea that we are more than just what we know,” she said. “You can begin to think about what you can do to use those skills. Having an expanded capacity around emotional intelligence doesn’t just make good human sense, it makes good business sense.”

A panel comprised of W.R. Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Farmers Bank and Trust, Great Bend; Jason Williby, president and CEO of FHSU Foundation; Dosse Toulaboe, chair and professor of FHSU’s Department of Economics, Finance, and Accounting; and Emily Breit, FHSU professor of finance, discussed efforts to train and retrain the next generation of banking professionals.

A longtime, devoted supporter of FHSU, Robbins, together with his late wife, Yvonne, endowed the Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship in 2016, which led to the creation of the Robbins Banking Institute in 2017, the first of its kind in Kansas. He and Yvonne’s interest in establishing the Robbins Banking Institute traced back to FHSU alums they had hired for their bank in Overland Park.

“We were so impressed by the education of students coming out of Fort Hays,” he said. “We felt because of the level of education, we wanted to endow the school.”

Robbins said his financial institution believes in the quality of FHSU’s banking program, particularly in the caliber of FHSU alums he has hired in the past ten years.

“We are so convinced of the program’s quality that our bank has hired a total of five, reaching back ten years,” he said. “And those five are still with the institution. We stand behind what we commit to, and we are very, very happy with that situation.”

It’s not just the financial support that Robbins provides to FHSU that stands out for Breit; it's Robbins’ commitment to return to campus to speak to banking students each year.

“He shares his passion,” Breit said. “He has given back to FHSU in many ways, and I greatly appreciate all he has done. We have found that many students who go through the banking program want to stay in the state, many in Western Kansas. The banking institute is helping create that. It will be W.R.’s legacy.”

For additional news and information about Fort Hays State University, go to https://www.fhsu.edu/university-communications/