A native of Walland and Maryville, John Fisher earned the bachelor’s degree in finance at UT in 1938. After two years as a national field secretary for Delta Tau Delta fraternity, he entered the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and was awarded an MBA degree from the institution in 1942, a year after joining the Ball Corporation as a trainee.
Following nine years in various manufacturing assignments, Fisher was named vice president of manufacturing of Ball Corporation, and in 1954 became vice president of sales. He was elected a corporate vice president in 1963 and was named president and chief executive officer in 1970. He was elected chairman and … chief executive officer in 1978. Fisher retired as chief executive officer in 1981 and as chairman of the board of Ball Corporation in 1986. He then served as chairman emeritus and honorary director. Upon the occasion of his retirement in 1986, Ball Corporation issued the commemorative “John W. Fisher jar,” copied from the Ball ideal jar popular in the 1920s. During his tenure the Ball Corporation expanded from a maker of glass containers to a highly diversified high technology firm. He is the author (1986) of Managing Change: How to Grow a Modern Enterprise. He served as president of the Glass Packaging Institute (1965–67), and as chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers (1979–80).
A member of the UT Development Council, he chaired that body in 1981–82. He served as national campaign vice chairman of UT’s Tennessee Tomorrow campaign. He was named Volunteer of the Year by the UT Knoxville Chancellor’s Associates in 1988. He was awarded honorary doctor of laws degrees by Ball State University, Butler University, DePauw University, and Indiana University.