J. Scott Wilfong, head of the Maryland region of SunTrust Banks Inc. - and a force within Baltimore's philanthropic community - was yesterday named the new leader of the bank's much-larger Atlanta operation.

Wilfong's promotion is part of a change in the way the Atlanta-based SunTrust manages its regional operations, and well deserved, a bank spokesman said.

A successor will be named later.

"He did a great job in Baltimore," said SunTrust spokesman Barry Koling.

Members of the city's nonprofit community felt the same way about the results Wilfong achieved in his broadly reaching civic and philanthropic work. The energy, optimism and patience he brought to those efforts will be missed, officials in the nonprofit community say.

"How lucky can Atlanta get?" asked Martina Martin, vice president for development and strategic planning at United Way of Central Maryland. "He's the consummate volunteer. He's got the spirit and passion about him. He absolutely lives his beliefs."

While Martin said she is happy for Wilfong, she at the same time sees his departure as "awful news."

In an interview yesterday, Wilfong, a Baltimore native, said he serves on the boards of 14 different groups or organizations. Among them: the Baltimore Development Corp., the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Baltimore Committee, the Family League of Baltimore City and Baltimore City's Department of Recreation and Parks.

Wilfong said he was set to assume the chairmanship of the Maryland Bankers Association. And this fall, he likely would have risen from vice chairman to chairman of Catholic Charities' board, said executive director Harold A. Smith.

"I'm grateful for the time he's been with us, frankly," Smith said. "He's been a terrific asset to the community. He's put an enormous amount of time, energy and expertise in trying to make this a better place to live."

As a member of the executive committee, Wilfong grappled with almost every big issue facing Catholic Charities, Smith said. He also chaired the fund-raising committee. "He just offered really wise counsel on a whole range of things," Smith said.

His community involvement wasn't limited to offering an opinion or making a few calls, according to those who've worked alongside him. That's why he got results.

In 1999, for instance, Wilfong led the annual United Way campaign, which raised a then-record $41 million. To help publicize the effort, Wilfong donned a Superman costume and climbed gamely into a cherry picker, the United Way's Martin said.

"He's a lot of fun," she said.

Wilfong, 52, has been with SunTrust - and predecessor Crestar Financial Corp. - since June 1997. SunTrust's purchase of Crestar was completed in December 1998.

SunTrust has more recently been working on ways to better manage its far-flung organization. SunTrust has 15 regions that are responsible for 50 "market-focused" banks, each headed by a local executive. Wilfong is to head the Atlanta region.

Since SunTrust's corporate headquarters is also in Atlanta, Wilfong will be much more visible to the company's top executives. But the responsibility jumps, too.

As chief executive of SunTrust Maryland, Wilfong oversaw $3.2 billion in combined loans and deposits, 450 employees and 61 branches. As CEO of SunTrust Atlanta, Wilfong says he'd be responsible for $12 billion in combined loans and deposits, 2,300 employees and 158 branches.

Between now and Aug. 1 - when his focus fully shifts to his new assignment - Wilfong said he will split his time between the two jobs.

However, because he will always consider Baltimore his home, he and his wife intend to keep the townhouse they are building in Canton.