Hot! Herman Cain

business executive

Personal Information

Born Herman Cain , December 13, 1945, in Memphis, TN; son of Luther and Lenora Cain; married Gloria Cain; children: Melanie and Vincent.Education:Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA, B.S., 1967; Purdue University, Lafayette, IN, M.A., computer science, 1971.Memberships:Chairman, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 1992; president, National Restaurant Association, 1994-95; board member, Creighton University, 1989-; board member, Super Valu, Inc., 1990-; board member, Utilicorp United Inc., 1992-; board member, Whirlpool Corp., 1992; member, Economic Growth and Tax Reform Commission established by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole.

Career

The Pillsbury Company, Minneapolis, MN, vice president/corporate systems and services, 1977-82; Burger King Corporation, Philadelphia, PA, regional vice president, 1982-86; Godfather's Pizza Inc., Omaha, NE, president, 1986-88, president/CEO, 1988 .

Life's Work

Herman Cain has enjoyed a stellar career in the business world. He became the youngest vice president in the history of The Pillsbury Company in 1977 after just three years with the company. He left this position in 1982 to learn the restaurant business at Pillsbury's Burger King subsidiary. In 1986, his success with Burger King prompted Pillsbury to select Cain to assume the presidency of another of its struggling companies, Godfather's Pizza. Finally, he became the first black president of the National Restaurant Association, the food service industry's leading trade organization.

When Cain started working at a Minneapolis Burger King in 1982, he cleaned toilets and flipped hamburgers. After completing the management training program in only nine months, Cain was named vice president and general manager for the Philadelphia region of the Burger King Corporation. Attaining this position was particularly special for Cain, considering that he and several friends were refused service in a restaurant in 1952 when they attempted to buy a hamburger.

Although there have been many reasons for Cain's business success, he credits maintaining a sharp focus as a key component. The 1997 website for the Business Leadership Summit held at San Joaquin Delta College, Leadership Summit, Inc. stated, "Faith, focus, and follow-through are the ingredients of the successful recipe of Herman Cain." Eric K. Washington in American Visions wrote, "Cain credits a single Cain's relentless focus and continued striving for excellence turned Godfather's Pizza around when its survival was questionable. And he did it in less than eighteen months. In 1988, Cain purchased Godfather's Pizza from The Pillsbury Company and became president and chief executive officer. In 1995, Godfather's Pizza, Inc. was the fifth-largest pizza chain in the nation.

Awards

Further Reading

American Visions, April/May 1995, p 41. New York Times, April 8, 1994, p. 18; January 8, 1995, p. 11; January 10, 1995, p. 15; July 28, 1996, p. 5. Parade Magazine, October 13, 1996, pp. 4-5. Policy Review, Spring 1995, pp. 35-38. Restaurant Business, May 1, 1991, p. 160.OtherInformation from the Business Leadership Summit, San Joaquin Delta College (Stockton, CA), October 5, 1996, URL: http://w.stocktonet.com/summit/pasttex.htm; http://w.stocktonet.com/summit/text.htm; http://w.stocktonet.com/summit/kaintext.htm. Press release, August 21, 1996, "Kansas City Fed Chairman Resigns," URL: http://w.kc.frb.org/pubaffrs/pressrel/pr9616.txt.