Michael S. Egan

Michael Egan was born in 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and spent much of his youth in Florida, where his grandfather lived. At the age of nine, Egan landed his first job selling coconuts to tourists. Later, he began selling the Miami Herald. When he was 14, his family built and operated the Storybook Gardens, an amusement park at Wisconsin Dells. By the time he was 16, Egan was managing the park's construction crew and operations.

With the nest egg he built from his work at the amusement park, Egan attended Cornell University. During his sophomore year, however, Egan's poor study habits and excessive partying hurt his grades. Egan wrote to the dean, promising to improve dramatically. He did well from that point on and won a national award for his design of a food facility.

After college, Egan served in the U.S. Army and then began designing food facilities for Yale University. Later, he became an instructor at the University of Massachusetts hotel school. Finally, needing a career change after 10 years of academia, he accepted a job as president of a Miami car rental business in Florida called Olin's. In 1978, Egan led an investor group to acquire Florida-based Alamo Rent A Car.

Egan targeted his marketing to the leisure traveler, offering unlimited free mileage and efficient rental plazas. He also paid commissions to travel agents who used Alamo. The once-obscure business became one of the world's largest car rental companies. Alamo's fleet expanded from 400 cars to more than 165,000, and it has more than 220 locations worldwide. In 1996, Egan sold Alamo to Republic Industries. He then became chairman of Certified Vacations and CEO of theglobe.com, a social media website.

Honored by his Horatio Alger Award, Egan says, "The Horatio Alger Scholars program means a lot to me. These young people are in need of mentoring at this point in their lives as they make their first critical choices, how they will educate themselves, the work they will do, whom they will marry, where they will settle. At the same time, they serve as mentors for their peer group because they are already beginning to shine. They are excellent examples of people who work hard to make their dreams come true. A large part of whatever I am today is due to the mentoring I received throughout my life. I believe it is important to learn how to be true to yourself, make a plan, work hard, and focus your daily life on achieving your dreams."