Darrel H. Hackett is the US Chief Executive Officer of BMO Financial Group, President and CEO of BMO Bank N.A., and CEO of BMO Financial Corp., leading all US operations for one of North America’s top 10 banks. He serves on BMO’s Executive Committee and chairs the US Management Committee, while also guiding global strategy as Group Head of US and International Banking.
A proud graduate of the Tickle College of Engineering, Hackett earned his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and was a member of the influential Group 18 cohort through the college’s Minority Engineering Scholarship Program. His experience at UT shaped his leadership philosophy and lifelong commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Hackett began his career at General Electric and McKinsey & Company before joining BMO in 2004. He has held several senior roles, including President of BMO Wealth Management US, and played a key role in BMO’s $16.3 billion acquisition of Bank of the West.
Of Hackett’s many national recognitions, he was named to Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Executives in Corporate America and Most Influential Black Corporate Directors, received the 2024 Visionary Arts Philanthropy Award from the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and was honored as a Champion in Change by Women in Capital Markets and a Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40.
Hackett serves on the boards of the Art Institute of Chicago, Rush University Medical Center, and United Way of Metro Chicago, and is a member of the Federal Advisory Council, The Clearing House, and the Executive Leadership Council. In memory of his late brother, a fellow UT alumnus, he established the Aaron T. Hackett Memorial Scholarship at UT, continuing his family’s legacy of excellence and service.
