Mr. Dwight Dyess is President of BancorpSouth in West Point, Mississippi. Prior to moving to West Point, he was Executive Vice President for External Affairs for BancorpSouth. Additionally, Mr. Dyess was President of the Pine Belt Division, where he had responsibility for BancorpSouth's banks in Forrest, Jasper, Jones, Lamar and Wayne Counties. BancorpSouth founded in 1896, is the second oldest and the largest financial institution in Mississippi. Mr. Dyess received his commission in 1972 as a Second Lieutenant from Mississippi State University Army ROTC "Bulldog Battalion", into the United States Army Reserve, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and later earned a Master of Science degree in Economics from Mississippi State University. He is a graduate of The School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University and completed the American Bankers Association National commercial Lending school at the University of Oklahoma.
In West Point, Mr. Dyess is a Board Member and Treasurer of the West Point/Clay County Community Growth Alliance. Also, he is a member of the Rotary Club of West Point.
A past Chairman of the Hattiesburg based Area Development Partnership; Mr. Dyess was Vice Chairman of the Forrest County Industrial Park commission, and Chairman of the Hattiesburg Tourism Commission. He is past President of the Hattiesburg Downtown Association, and the United Way of Southeast Mississippi. He was a member of the Hattiesburg Rotary club and the Southeast Mississippi Salvation Army Board. He has served on the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation Board and the USM College of Business Administration Advisory Council. Dyess is also Past Director of the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Power Foundation, the Hattiesburg Area Education Foundation, the Pearl River College Workforce Advisory Council, and the Southeast Mississippi Certified Investment Corporation.
Mr. Dyess was the Sales and Marketing International of Hattiesburg 1997 Executive of the Year and received the Hub Award for his contributions to the community. He is a member of Marquis' Who's Who in the World 1998, Who's Who in the United States and Who's Who in Finance. Mr. Dyess retired as Colonel after twenty-nine years in the Mississippi National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve. He served as Intelligence Officer for the 155th Separate Armored Brigade during Desert Storm. Having served ten plus years in Special Forces, he is a master parachutist. Colonel Dyess commanded the 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry, the oldest military unit in Mississippi history. Colonel Dyess' decorations includes the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal. He is a Distinguished Knight of the Order of Saint George as well as a Centurion of the Order of St. Maurice. Colonel Dyess continues to serve our country as the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Mississippi. In his role as Civilian Aide, Mr. Dyess serves as an advisor to the Secretary of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and Senior Army commanders whose areas of responsibility involve the State of Mississippi. Civilian Aides are a key link for the military as they communicate Army messages and themes to communities within the State.
In turn, they provide information about these civilian communities to the Army. For protocol purposes, Civilian Aides are ranked just below 3-star general officers and are considered as the Secretary of the Army's personal representatives. Mr. Dyess is married to the former Kathy Lee of Yazoo City. Mrs. Dyess is a member of the Order of Saint Joan D'Arc. They have one son, Walker. The Dyess' are communicants of The Episcopal church of the Incarnation where he is a member of the Finance commission.