About Bill Pollard
About Bill Pollard
Bill Pollard is currently Chairman Emeritus of Fairwyn Investment Company, a private investment firm. For over a twenty-five year period, from 1977 to 2002, Bill participated in the leadership of The ServiceMaster Company and served not once but twice as its Chief Executive Officer. He also served as Chairman of the Board of ServiceMaster from 1990 to April 2002 and was elected Chairman Emeritus in 2002 when he retired from the Board.
During his leadership of ServiceMaster, the Company was recognized by Fortune magazine as the #1 service company among the Fortune 500 and was included as one of its most admired companies. During this period, ServiceMaster also was identified as a “star of the future” by The Wall Street Journal and recognized by the Financial Times as one of the most respected companies in the world. The Company also achieved market leadership in each of its markets and substantial growth in shareholder value.
In addition to his work at Fairwyn Investment Company and ServiceMaster, Bill has served as a director of several public companies and a number of charitable, religious, and educational organizations, including Cadence Healthcare System, The Drucker Institute of Claremont Graduate School, Bright China Social Fund, The California Institute of Advanced Management (CIAM) and as an adviser to the Drucker Academy in Hong Kong and China. He has a strong interest and involvement in advancing Peter Drucker’s leadership and management principles in both the United States and China. For over 25 years he served as a director and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and currently serves as a director emeritus. He is a trustee emeritus of Wheaton College, where he served over 31 years as a Trustee of the College and twice as Chairman of the Board. He also served as an adjunct professor at Wheaton and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Hastert Center at Wheaton.
Bill is a graduate of Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and received a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. From 1963 to 1972 he was engaged in the practice of law, specializing in corporate finance and tax matters, and from 1972 to 1977 he served on the faculty and as a Vice President of Wheaton College.
He is the author of several books including the best seller The Soul of the Firm, Serving Two Masters? Reflections on God and Profit, and his newest book The Tides of Life. He has written for and contributed to other books and magazines including The Leader of the Future, Leading People, Leading for Innovation and Organizing for Results, “The Quest for the Entrepreneurial Spirit,” “The Leader Who Serves” and The Heart of a Business Ethic. Bill also has been recognized by a number of educational organizations for his leadership in business, ethics, and corporate governance including receiving the Hesburgh Award for Business Ethics from Notre Dame, recognition by Harvard Business School as an American business leader of the 20th Century who helped shape the way people live, work and interact, honored as one of Corporate America’s Outstanding Directors, and has received honorary Doctor degrees from Aurora University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University and Emanuel University in Oradea, Romania.
A native of Chicago, Bill and his wife, Judy, have been married for over 60 years. They have four adult children, 15 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.