Hall of Fame 6.7.26 - Flipbook - Page 45
Hall of Fame | Sunday, June 7, 2026 45
BONNIE B.
STEIN
Bonnie B. Stein’s rise through the banking world started inauspiciously enough.
“After high school, I went to the Washington School for Secretaries, where you had to wear a hat and gloves,” she said. “They taught you all the intricacies of
how to be a good executive secretary, then they placed you in a job.
“I worked for the president of a bank, doing things like picking up his dry cleaning.”
From, or perhaps in spite of, that, Stein, 73, built
a career that reads like a tour of Baltimore banking past and present before retiring as an executive vice president and managing director at PNC
Bank in 2014.
On a parallel path, she has also served on multiple boards, including chairing those of the University System of Maryland Foundation, the
American Red Cross of the Chesapeake Region
and the Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
“I have never felt like I was working anywhere,”
she said. “I had the best friends in the world, both
corporate and personal, and we all helped each
other.”
Close associates describe Stein as an inspirational and generous colleague, smart, missiondriven and a careful listener.
“We spoke at least once a day, and sometimes
on weekends,” said Leonard Raley, president and
CEO emeritus of the USM Foundation, which supports Maryland’s public colleges and universities
and manages about $2.5 billion in assets. “She was
just dialed in.”
Raley credits Stein with helping increase those
assets and diversifying the board, bringing in a
greater geographical, gender and professional mix
“to better represent the different constituencies
we serve.
“The conversation in the boardroom changed
when more people from different backgrounds
were there,” he said. “Different questions get
asked.”
For Stein, it’s all about communication, something she attributes to being raised by a mother
“who could talk to anyone.”
Stein was born in Washington, where her father, whose family owned a poultry business, died
when she was 4 years old.
Her mother sent her to charm school and made
her take bossa nova lessons, much to her dismay,
Bonnie B. Stein
Age: 73
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Current residence: Edgewater
Education: Washington School
for Secretaries; bachelor’s degree
in behavioral science, University
of Maryland University College
Career highlights: Corporate lending,
branch management, wealth
management, merger and acquisitions
at banks, including Maryland National,
Equitable, First National, Mercantile
and PNC, where she was executive
vice president and managing director
for talent acquisition, field readiness
and leadership development
Civic and charitable activities:
Current or former member of boards
of GBMC, University System of Maryland
Foundation, American Red Cross
of the Chesapeake Region, Maryland
Independent College Fund, Center Club
Family: Partner, John Puchek;
had been married to Frank Stein,
Maryland State Police retired detective,
until his death last year.
Previous marriage ended in divorce.
Two children, six granddaughters, one great-grandson.
although she came to realize their value.
“She wanted to make sure I could talk to people,” Stein said. “It’s the basis for success.”
And it was.
After her secretarial experience, she moved on
to a job with a cattleman’s association in Washington, shepherding visiting members to offices
on Capitol Hill and doing such a good job, “they
named me ‘Miss Filet Mignon,’” Stein said with a
laugh.
She married, started a family, eventually having
two children, and earned a bachelor’s degree in
behavioral science from the online University of
Maryland University College. Looking for some
extra money for Christmas, she took a temp job at
Maryland National Bank.
Three weeks later, the bank asked her to stay.
Six months later, it entered her into a management training program to become a corporate
lender.
Along the way, she grew more involved in community service.
“It was the piece that I didn’t get from work,”
Stein said, “in terms of doing something I felt was
of value, other than just putting money in a corporation’s pocket.”
Stein said she was able to juggle marriage and
motherhood through a veritable village — her
mother, a babysitter, helpful stay-at-home moms
in the neighborhood.
Stein jokes that she’s failed at retiring a couple
of times — leaving Mercantile only to be recruited
by a private equity company in Washington, leaving PNC only to help found a financial firm focused on women’s needs.
She wound down her career amid the COVID19 pandemic and the declining health of her second husband, who died last year.
A colleague turned close friend, Chris Davis,
said Stein elevated those around her, “making
wherever she went better.”
“When you worked for Bonnie, you wanted to be
your best,” said Davis, a wealth adviser who
worked with Stein at First National Bank and again
when she recruited him to Mercantile. “She really
motivated you, but she also took care of you.”
— Jean Marbella
