Andrew Jacob to retire as CoBank chief operating officer
Kathleen Roberts to succeed Mike Short as chief credit officer
DENVER (January 23, 2026) – CoBank, a cooperative bank serving agribusinesses, rural infrastructure providers and Farm Credit associations throughout the United States, today announced that Chief Operating Officer Andrew Jacob has decided to retire in March after nearly four decades of service to the Farm Credit System.
Jacob joined CoBank in 2011 as head of the bank’s legislative, regulatory and compliance functions and was later promoted to Chief Legislative, Regulatory and Compliance Officer. He was named Chief Operating Officer in 2019 and has had responsibility for a broad portfolio of corporate functions, including technology, product, operations, government affairs, Knowledge Exchange, corporate communications, corporate events, corporate social responsibility, and Internal Controls & Operational Risk. Prior to joining the bank, Jacob spent almost 25 years at the Farm Credit Administration, the independent regulator for the Farm Credit System.
“On behalf of our board and associates, I am immensely grateful to Andrew for his strategic impact to CoBank across many areas over the years, including his recent focus on digital transformation,” said Tom Halverson, chief executive officer. “Thanks to Andrew’s strategic vision and efforts, CoBank is now well positioned to deliver technology solutions that add value across our enterprise and align investment with our corporate objectives.” In conjunction with Jacob’s retirement, the functional reporting relationships of the Chief Operating Officer will be reassigned to other senior executives. The bank does not plan to continue the Chief Operating Officer role after Jacob's retirement.
"It has been a privilege to serve the Farm Credit System and CoBank," Jacob said. "I am proud of the progress we have made together to modernize our capabilities, and I look forward to the organization’s continued success."
Also today, the bank announced that Kathleen Roberts, currently senior vice president and head of the bank’s institutional recovery function, will succeed Mike Short as Chief Credit Officer following Short’s previously announced retirement in April.
Roberts joined CoBank in 2000 as a credit analyst with the bank’s Farm Credit Leasing subsidiary before moving to the Regional Agribusiness Banking Group, where she served as a lead relationship manager in Minneapolis and as a regional vice president in St. Louis. In 2021 she was appointed senior vice president of institutional recovery management, with responsibility for managing distressed accounts as well as the collateral management and minerals teams. In her new role as Chief Credit Officer, Roberts will have responsibility for all of CoBank’s credit approval and credit related administrative functions including loan approval, credit support and analysis, credit guidelines, credit training, loan compliance and monitoring, collateral audit and special assets. Roberts will report to Tim Curran, Chief Risk Officer.
“Kathleen has built extraordinarily deep institutional knowledge at CoBank over more than 25 years in a variety of roles,” Halverson said. “We are fortunate to have her on our team and look forward to her future contributions in her expanded role.”
About CoBank
CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 79,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.