Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> March 20, 2000
JOHN F. (JACK) WARD is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Russell Corporation, a $1.2 billion international apparel company
specializing in activewear, casualwear and athletic uniforms with
products under the Russell Athletic, Jerzees and Cross Creek brand
names. Mr. Ward serves on the Board of Directors of Lanier Worldwide,
Inc., the Board of Advisors for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
and the Board of Directors of The Georgian Club in Atlanta. He is also
an officer and member of the Board of Directors for the American Apparel
Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and a member of the Board of Visitors
of the Kenan-Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina.
A founder of the Children's Cancer Patient Support Program at Brenner
Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he served in
leadership roles with a number of other non-profit organizations during
his 27 years in North Carolina. Mr. Ward began his career in 1966 with
Procter & Gamble and joined H. J. Heinz in 1968, where he was Product
Manager for several brands. In 1972, he joined Hanes Corporation as
Product Manager for the expansion of L'eggs hosiery and was named Vice
President of Marketing for L'eggs in 1975. From 1979 until 1993, he was
President and CEO of several divisions of Sara Lee Corporation (the
acquirer of Hanes Corporation), was appointed Senior Vice President of
Sara Lee Corporation in 1992 and Chief Executive Officer of the Hanes
Group of companies in 1993. His responsibilities with Sara Lee
corporation included operations in more than 20 countries with multi-
billion-dollar sales responsibilities for a broad range of apparel
products. Upon retiring from Sara Lee Corporation in August 1996, he was
President of the J. F. Ward Group, an apparel and textile consulting
company. In addition, he was an Executive-in-Residence and Professor at
Wake Forest University's Calloway School of Business and Accounting. Mr.
Ward joined Russell Corporation in March of 1998. He is a native of
Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and earned his BS and MBA degrees from
Cornell University. He is married with two grown daughters. Profile
Mr. Ward: Russell Corporation is an international marketer and
manufacturer of activewear, casualwear and team sports products.
Historically,
