James A. Haslam II

James A. "Jim" Haslam II was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December 13, 1930. He had two older sisters. His father, who served in the Canadian Army during World War I, was a salesman for Studebaker Corporation during the Great Depression, obviously a very difficult time to sell cars. After a short time in Detroit, the family moved to Pennsylvania and was living there when World War II broke out. Haslam's father quickly entered the U.S. Army as a major. "My father liked the military," says Haslam. "He was a people person and a great salesman. He was also very disciplined, which I assume he acquired through his years in the service. We had a good relationship, but my time with my father was not as long as I would have liked."

While Haslam's father served overseas, he sent money home. Haslam turned 11 a week after America entered the war and, soon thereafter, began working at odd jobs. "During the war, so many men were gone, if you wanted to work, there was a job for you," he says. "I had a paper route, worked in a drug store, and did landscaping and construction work all by the time I was 16." Haslam used his money to buy his own clothes and to help out his mother and sisters.

After the war ended in 1945, Haslam's father was discharged from the Army and returned to work for Studebaker. However, he had a heart condition and soon retired, and the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where Haslam graduated from St. Petersburg High School.

Haslam was an above-average student and excelled at sports, especially football. He had never really given his future much thought and now believes that if he had not received a football scholarship, he probably would not have gone to college.

In 1948, Haslam entered the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, becoming the first person in his family to earn a college degree. Though he majored in finance, he didn't really know how he would use his degree. At the time, he was more interested in his football career; he was a starting offensive tackle in 1950, 1951, and 1952. The 1951 team won the national championship, and Haslam captained the 1952 team.

In 1953, his father died. "It was too soon for him to go," Haslam says, "but his heart just gave out. I missed him, and I'm sorry today that he never witnessed my later success."

Following his graduation, the U.S. Army commissioned Haslam as a second lieutenant. The Korean War was going on, and Haslam was sent to Korea in early 1954. By that time, however, the armistice had been signed. He was in South Korea until 1955, serving as commander of an engineering company. "You grow up quickly in those circumstances," he says. "At 23 years old, I was in charge of 150 men, and it was a great experience for me. I learned self-discipline and tried to always set a good example for my men. Everything I learned in those days helped me later in life."

Haslam married in 1953 and was discharged from the Army in 1955. He returned to Knoxville without a plan for his immediate future, but he did have a few options. He considered being a high school football coach, but it was February and he did not want to wait until the fall for that job to start. A television station offered him a job selling advertising, but he chose to accept a wholesale position for Fleet Oil Company, which owned 20 gas stations. One year later, Fleet asked him to run a new chain of Sail gasoline stations.

"I was 25 years old and just in the right place at the right time," says Haslam. "I felt then, and I still feel, that I am the luckiest guy alive. One thing I learned early in running a business is that it is a lot like football. You go out and get the best people you can find, and you put them in the right position. You train them, you have an overall game plan, and then you throw in another thing I learned from the military, discipline. I was young to run a business of eight gas stations, but I put what I already knew into practice, and it all worked out well for me."

Two years after running Sail, Haslam felt ready to start his own business. In 1958, he founded Pilot Oil Corporation and bought his first gas station in Gate City, Virginia, for $6,000. This first station had four fuel pumps and sold cigarettes and soft drinks. By 1965, Pilot had grown to 12 gas stations. In the mid-1970s, Pilot expanded into the convenience store market, and in 1980, the company opened its first travel center in Corbin, Kentucky. In 1995, Haslam became chairman. Pilot became the largest seller of diesel fuel and the seventh-largest privately held company in the United States.

"I'm often asked what it takes to accomplish something like I did with Pilot," says Haslam. "I have three basic principles that worked for me. First, I think it's important to keep things simple. Second, it's important to be optimistic. I'm the kind of guy who says it's partly sunny, rather than party cloudy. Third, you have to have the right company culture. At Pilot, we do the right thing, work hard, set high goals, have high standards, treat people with respect and kindness, hold people accountable, and reward people when they do well."

From 1980 to 2007, Haslam served on the University of Tennessee's Board of Trustees, and Haslam and his wife, both UT graduates, have given the school and its athletic programs more than $50 million over the years. Its business college was renamed James A. Haslam II College of Business, the music building has been named for Natalie Haslam, and the football team's practice field is called Haslam Field.

Haslam has been involved in numerous civic activities in Knoxville and has chaired both the United Way campaign and the Greater Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations. Both Jim and Natalie Haslam have been major donors to the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Knox-Area Rescue Ministries, the East Tennessee Historical Society, the Boys and Girls Clubs, United Way, St. John's Episcopal Church, the Knoxville Zoo, and the Knoxville Symphony.