John E. Pepper Jr. (born August 2, 1938) is an American businessman.NNDB
/ref> He served as chief executive officer and/or chairman of

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

from 1995 to 2002. He was also CEO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center,Forbes
/ref> and until 2012 served as the chairman of the board of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

.Disney biography
/ref>

Biography

John E. Pepper Jr. was born August 2, 1938, in

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is a city and the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the wes ...

. He graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School (then Portsmouth Priory) in Rhode Island, then graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1960, where he served on the board of the ''

Yale Daily News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut, since January 28, 1878. Description Financially and editorially independent of Yale University since its founding, th ...

''. From 1963 to 2003, he served in various positions at

, including chairman of the board from 2000 to 2002, and CEO. He served as chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of The

Company until December 2003. He then served as vice president of finance and administration at

from January 2004 to December 2005. He was a director of The Walt Disney Company beginning in 2006 (chairman from 2007 to 2012) and of Boloco from 2007 to 2015, a Boston-based restaurant chain that his son John co-founded in 1997. He served as a fellow of the Yale Corporation from 1995 to 2003, including two years as senior fellow, and also served as a member of the advisory committee of the

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...

. He now serves on the board of trustees of

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

. He also serves on the boards of Boston Scientific and

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

. He is a member of the executive committee of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, and he sits on the boards of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. He was inducted into the

Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization. It was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential ...

U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2008. His children include Cincinnati politician David Pepper and North Carolina bluegrass musician Susan Pepper, as well as entrepreneur, labor activist and drone pilot John Pepper and kitesurfer Doug Pepper.

Bibliography

*''What Really Matters'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, John E. Jr. 1938 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Pepper, John E. Pepper, John E. People from Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pepper, John E. Xavier University people Procter & Gamble people Motorola American chief executives American chairpersons of corporations Chairmen of The Walt Disney Company Disney executives Portsmouth Abbey School alumni