Great Western Bancorp appointed James A. Israel to its board of directors and to the board of directors of its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Great Western Bank.

Israel is a retired senior executive of Deere & Company, where he served most recently as president of the worldwide financial services division in Johnston, IA. Israel spent nearly four decades at Deere & Company, serving in a number of executive roles including SVP of sales and marketing, Europe, Africa and the CIS in its agricultural equipment division and SVP of international lending.

“The board will benefit greatly from Mr. Israel’s extensive expertise in finance, agriculture and risk and we look forward to welcoming him to our board,” said Ken Karels, president and CEO. “He brings strong leadership in regulatory compliance as well as a global vision.”

Great Western Bancorp is the holding company for Great Western Bank, a regional bank focused on relationship-based business and agribusiness banking.