Eugene A. Novak '74

Richard N. Kappel ‘69
President & CEO (Retired), Advanced Computer Systems (ACS)

Richard Kappel owned and served as President and CEO of ACS, Inc., a software company located in Dayton, Ohio, that specialized in the development and sale of software products for use by the commercial bank industry.  Its products, Banker and Banker II, by 1993, were one of the most comprehensive and widely installed community bank software applications in the United States.

2015 Hall of Fame Induction Video

Richard Kappel owned and served as President and CEO of ACS, Inc., a software company located in Dayton, Ohio, that specialized in the development and sale of software products for use by the commercial bank industry.  Its products, Banker and Banker II, by 1993, were one of the most comprehensive and widely installed community bank software applications in the United States.

Kappel began his business career at NCR Corporation as an intern for three summers while attending Bowling Green State University. As a senior, he worked part-time as a programmer/systems analyst at NCR’s Toledo, Ohio, branch office.  After graduation in 1969 with a business degree and specialization in accounting, he was hired by NCR full-time, and later transferred to NCR corporate headquarters in Dayton where he held numerous software development, software support and sales management positions.

He was recognized by NCR as the 1976 Sales Leader for the U.S. and the next year was promoted to Director of U.S. Industry Marketing in NCR’s Financial Systems Marketing Division.

In 1981, he joined a small software company, ACS, in Dayton and put together an experienced team of managers, software developers and support personnel to acquire and develop banking applications for small commercial banks (community banks). The software system ran on mini-computers and microprocessors, eliminating the need for large expensive computers, computer operators and programming staffs. This permitted community banks to bring their processing in-house.

In 1992, and again in 1993, Arthur Andersen and Associates recognized ACS as being one of their ”Dayton 100” of privately held companies in the greater Dayton area, with ACS ranking 35^th and 19^th, respectively.

In December 1993, BancTec, Inc., of Dallas, Texas, acquired ACS.