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WILLIAM T. FITZGERALD
 Tire business magnate William T. Fitzgerald once said he treasures his University of Akron education because it left him with much more than fond memories of professors and classmates. "The real value of an education
is the effect that it has on the rest of your
life," he said. "I learned how to learn, so that my college experience could be an ongoing one." Mr. Fitzgerald remained true to that philosophy throughout his exemplary 38-year career with Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, from which he retired as president and chief operating officer in 1991.
After earning a bachelor's degree in marketing, with distinction, from UA in 1950, Mr. Fitzgerald, an Akron native, stayed in Akron to work in sales promotion for Plastic Film Products. In 1953, with encouragement from Warren Leigh, then dean of the College of Business Administration, he joined Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in Findlay as a field sales representative. An enterprising young man, Mr. Fitzgerald worked diligently, rising through the ranks to become the company's vice president of marketing by 1968. Elected to the board of directors in 1970, he became president of the tire division in 1971, executive vice president of the company in 1981 and president and chief operating officer in 1989. During Mr. Fitzgerald's tenure with the company, sales grew from $23 million in 1953 to more than $1 billion in 1991. That same year, the company attained the fourth largest tire production in North America.
Mr. Fitzgerald matched his dedication to work with a devotion to professional and civic activities. He participated in such organizations as the Rubber Manufacturers Association, the American Management Association, and independent dealer groups. In 1987, he received the Frank L. Simonetti Distinguished Business Alumni Award from the UA College of Business Administration, and in 1992, was inducted into the Tire Industry Hall of Fame.
Just as his own career accomplishments affirm Mr. Fitzgerald's high regard for education, so do his contributions to business practices and free enterprise itself. A visionary leader, he championed entrepreneurship and the cause of the independent tire dealer throughout his career with Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. He maintained that quality products, service to customers, and integrity in all dealings were the mainstays of business success. He encouraged new employees to be innovative, helped former employees become independent dealers, and counseled independent brand owners on market conditions.
In light of his own accomplishments and the success of the company he led, Mr. Fitzgerald took his advocacy for learned entrepreneurship beyond immediate business concerns and into the realm of the future. In 1995, with the largest individual gift ever made to The University of Akron, Mr. Fitzgerald and his wife, Rita, enabled the College of Business Administration to create an institute devoted to the future of free enterprise -- The William and Rita Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.
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