College of Arts and Sciences

Robert Leach is a 20 year commercial banker with Fifth Third Bank in Chicago. He has market and direct customer responsibilities, and primarily focuses on middle market companies located in the greater Chicago area. He is well known in Chicago business circles as an advisor, advocate, and leader with an open, candid, and honest style in doing business. He has stellar, proven experience in:

• Private Company Advice, specifically initiating new and valuable ideas to help fuel growth;
• Complex Commercial Credit Structuring, while making the bank transition process easier;
• Broad Industry Knowledge, which adds internal credibility to get top-of-the-house support; and
• Collaborative Relationships with product specialists to ensure support of holistic needs.

Robert joined Fifth Third Bank in 2014 in order to better help and assist business owners and management teams with improving their access to capital, optimizing their cash flow, lending at competitive prices, supporting their strategic direction, and leveraging a national platform of diverse bank specialties for local relationship needs.
Before coming to Fifth Third Bank, Robert was a Division Manager at Wintrust in their Middle Market team under John McKinnon and Tim Crane, a Group Manager at BMO Harris under Peter McNitt and Jonathan Rohde, and a Team Leader under Paul Hanson and Wayne Demkowicz at Deutsche Bank.
Robert is an active part of the greater Chicago business community. He currently sits or has had board or memberships within the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Executive’s Club of Chicago, DePaul University’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries, Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors, Commercial Finance Association, and Risk Management Association.

Robert was born in rural Indiana, and raised in Gas City, IN where his father is still Mayor. Upon graduation from high school, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he received numerous military commendations prior to his honorable discharge in 1991. He received his undergraduate degree from Indiana State University in 1994 and completed MBA coursework with Dalhousie University in 2009.
Robert and his wife, Hallie, have four children and live in Park Ridge, IL. He is active in his community, and serves as a Board Director and longtime youth football coach for Park Ridge Sports, Inc. He enjoys camping, hiking, and boating with his young family whenever possible.