Fisher Gives Million to Business

Fisher Gives $20 Million to Business

MAX FISHER GIVES $20 MILLION TO BUSINESS COLLEGE

     COLUMBUS - Noted philanthropist Max M. Fisher, a 1930
graduate of The Ohio State University College of Business, today
gave $20 million to the university's business college.  Fisher's
commitment is the largest gift ever received for an Ohio State
academic unit and the second largest in the university's history.
In recognition of this outstanding commitment, Ohio State's
business college will be designated the Max M. Fisher College of
Business.

     An advisor to the past four Republican U.S. presidents and a
leader of the Jewish community, the 85-year-old Detroit resident
built a fortune from an independent oil business and successful
investments in real estate and stocks.  While Fisher's past
philanthropic endeavors have centered primarily on Jewish causes
and the Republican party, his gift to Ohio State is intended to
move the university's business college into the ranks of the
nationa'as elite management schools.

     "I have been fortunate throughout my life to assist with
many noble causes," Fisher said.  "Ohio State and its College of
Business, under the leadership of President E. Gordon Gee and
Dean Joseph A. Alutto respectively, have demonstrated a strong
commitment to fostering an understanding of the global context in
which all business occurs.  Rather than being a personal legacy,
my gift is an affirmation of a shared vision with Dean Alutto and
President Gee concerning the future of management education.  I
firmly believe that Ohio State's Max M. Fisher College of
Business will soon become one of the very best business colleges
in the world."

     President Gee noted the far-reaching effects of such a gift
on the university's stature.  

     "The relevance of Mr. Fisher's gift can be measured by its
immediate impact on the college," Gee said.  "Under Dean Alutto's
leadership, we have made remarkable progress in moving from a
proud heritage as a large undergraduate business program toward
an internationally recognized graduate school for management
education united with a selective, high-quality undergraduate
program in business.  Mr. Fisher's commitment will allow us to
make that transition even more rapidly.

     "Ohio State is proud to excel in many different disciplines.
A nationally recognized business school will greatly strengthen
this university's claim to true international distinction."

     Dean Alutto reiterated Fisher's faith in the college.

     "This historic commitment from Mr. Fisher is the most
important step in our aggressive efforts to remake the business
college for the next century," Alutto said.  "A gift of this
magnitude will enable us to move even more rapidly towards our
vision of true international distinction in management education.
Most important to us, though, is the association of Mr. Fisher's
name with the college.  It will symbolize for generations to come
the excellence, dedication and creativity expected of graduates
from our college."One of the cornerstones of the college's
transformation is a new $67 million, multi-building business
complex planned for the northern edge of Ohio State's Columbus
campus. Groundbreaking on the complex is scheduled for Fall 1994.
The facilities will replace 70-year-old Hagerty Hall, in which
the college now resides. As part of Fisher's gift, the main
administration building in the new business complex will also be
named in his honor.

     Ohio State's business college, which was founded in 1916,
currently enrolls more than 600 graduate students and 2,800
undergraduates. The college has 108 faculty members and more than
120 full and part-time staff.


Max M. Fisher
Personal Biography




     Max M. Fisher, was born July 15, 1908, in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.  The son of immigrant Russian parents, Fisher grew
up in the small town of Salem, Ohio, on the Ohio-Pennsylvania
border.  Fisher was a high school football star at Salem High
School, and he earned a football scholarship to The Ohio State
University.  To earn his room and board at OSU, Fisher hauled ice
and worked at Richman Brothers clothing store in Cleveland.  His
family had moved from Salem to Cleveland and later to Detroit
while Fisher was at OSU.

     After graduating with a B.S. in Business Administration from
Ohio State in 1930, Fisher moved to Detroit to join his family.
His father had established Keystone Oil, a small oil reclamation
plant on the west side of Detroit, where used lubricating oil was
cleaned and reclaimed then sold back to industrial customers.
Fisher joined the company as a $15-a-week salesman.

     Fisher saw the potential for Keystone to refine and sell a
range of products, and when his father turned down his plan to
build a refinery, Fisher approached two Detroit businessmen who
owned Aurora Gasoline and persuaded them to form a joint venture
with Keystone to build an independent refinery.  Using Aurora's
$38,000 in cash and Keystone's large tract of land, a joint
venture was formed.  In return for bringing this deal to
Keystone, Fisher's father gave him 50% of Keystone's stock.

     Fisher served as chairman of Aurora Gasoline from 1932 until
1959 when Aurora was merged with Marathon Oil.  Aurora was one of
the largest independent oil companies in the Midwest, with 680
Speedway 79 gas stations.  That Aurora was successful even during
World War II when supplies of crude oil were tight was largely
due to Max Fisher's business savvy.

     After Aurora was sold, Fisher turned his attention to his
hobby of real estate   He has participated in enormously
profitable real estate deals such as Detroit's Fisher building
(named for the auto body Fishers, not Max Fisher), Somerset
Apartments in Troy, Michigan, and Irvine Ranch in southern
California, believed to be the costliest real estate transaction
in U.S. history when it was purchased in 1977.  Fisher's highest
priorities, however, have been revitalizing the Detroit area and
in fundraising for causes he believes in.

     Currently, Fisher serves on the Board of Directors for
Comerica Incorporated in Detroit and Sotheby's in London.  He has
been involved in many civic activities, and has been awarded 11
honorary degrees from notable academic institutions including The
Ohio State University, Michigan State University, Eastern
Michigan University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Yeshiva
University.  In addition, Fisher's numerous awards include the
Presidential Citizen Award, presented by Ronald Reagan; The Ohio
State University Centennial Award; The Business Statesman Award
from Harvard Business School; the Renaissance Spirit Award from
Metropolitan Detroit Convention and Visitor's Bureau; the William
Booth Award from the Salvation Army; Distinguished Citizen Award
from Wayne State University; and the Ben-Gurion Centennial Medal
from the State of Israel Bonds.

     His expertise on middle Eastern affairs and Jewish issues
has made Fisher a key advisor of the past four Republican
Presidents.  He has served on President Reagan's Task Force on
Private Sector Initiatives, President Nixon's National Center for
Voluntary Action, and President Bush's Export Council.

     Max Fisher has been married to Marjorie Switow Fisher since
1953, and he has five children.


[Submitted by: GERSTNER  (gerstner@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Mon, 15 Nov 93 14:34:10 EST]
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