John Morgridge | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Philip Morgridge (1933-07-23)July 23, 1933 (age 92) |
| Education | University of Wisconsin–Madison (BA) Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA) |
| Known for | CEO ofCisco Systems (1988–1995) |
| Spouse | Tashia Frankfurth |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Carrie Morgridge (daughter-in-law) |
John P. Morgridge (born 1933)[1] is an American businessman who was the CEO and chairman of the board ofCisco Systems.[2]
Morgridge was born to L. D. Morgridge and Ruth Gordon Morgridge, who were both teachers and church members.[3][4] He has one brother, Dean L. Morgridge, and one sister, Barbara Morgridge.[4] He grew up inWauwatosa,Wisconsin, where he attendedWauwatosa East High School.[5] He worked part-time at jobs such as washing equipment in asweet peacannery, digging stone at thequarry inLannon, washing walls in Milwaukee'sPabst Brewery, doingroad construction onHighway 64, and working as a railroadbrakeman.[5] In 1955, he graduated from theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison[6] and in 1957, he earned anMBA fromStanford Graduate School of Business.[7]
After school, he worked forStratus Computer andHoneywell Information Systems before being president and chief operating officer ofGRiD Systems.[8] He joined Cisco in 1988, then a four-year-old company with 34 employees, as its secondchief executive officer and chairman of the board.[5] He was replaced byJohn Chambers as CEO in 1995 and as chairman in 2006.[8][9] At his retirement in 2006, Cisco had 50,000 employees in 77 countries.[10]
In 1996, the University Center for Community Service at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison was renamed theMorgridge Center for Public Service in recognition of a generous endowment to expand its scope.[11]
In 2006, the Morgridges supported the founding of a public-private partnership between theMorgridge Institute for Research and theWisconsin Institute for Discovery with a 50 million donation.[12]
In 2010, Morgridge and his wife donated $175 million to create the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars, an endowment which will provide grants to low-income students attending one of Wisconsin's public colleges or universities.[13] Morgridge Family Foundation donated funds to Immanuel Lutheran School,[14] Mount Olive Lutheran Church,[15] and to several educational and volunteering organizations.
Looking back on his life, says John Morgridge, in addition to parents, church and school, "it's the community that helps form our moral compass. It's those attitudes that I've remembered through my entire lifetime. We've been very blessed with what this country has given us. And we intend, before we die, to give it back."[16]
Morgridge is on several corporate and charity boards of directors, includingthe Nature Conservancy,[10] theWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation,[8] and was a trustee ofStanford University (2002–2007)[17] where he teaches management at theGraduate School of Business.[8] Morgridge and his wife are among the group of American billionaires who have committed to give the majority of their wealth to thephilanthropic causes and/or charities as part ofThe Giving Pledge.[18]
Morgridge married his high school sweetheart, Tashia Frankfurth (now a special education teacher), great-granddaughter ofWilliam Frankfurth, the co-founder of the German-English Academy, which is now known as theUniversity School of Milwaukee.[19] They have an adult son and daughter, and a second son who died of leukemia.[13]
Morgridge was featured in the documentary filmSomething Ventured, which premiered in 2011.[20]