John E. Fisher*
Class of 1993
- General Chairman Nationwide Insurance Companies
Success is always possible for people who are willing to work.
John Fisher was born in 1929 in Portsmouth, Ohio. Even before he was 12, Fisher was selling magazines. and when he was old enough to become a paperboy, he worked two routes. During high school, he worked in a grocery store, then in a shoe factory.
His first full-time job was as a boilermaker. Laid off during a strike, Fisher became a sales management trainee and then sold door to door. Leaving Portsmouth to continue his education, he sold vacuum cleaners part time and worked other jobs.
Eventually, he went to work for Farm Bureau Insurance, which became Nationwide in 1955. Starting as a trainee in 1951, he moved up the corporate ladder, becoming general chairman and CEO in 1981. Revenue in 1997 reached nearly $23 billion. Although he never graduated from college, he encouraged employees to study at company expense.