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| Inducted: |
1989 |
Tom Rutter is recognized by his peers and contemporaries as a man who maintained a lifelong dedication to program excellence and field operation. In the early 1950s, when he joined Junior Achievement, it took an entrepreneurial spirit and a creative ability to forge a career in our organization. He relished this opportunity.
Rutter began his Junior Achievement career in 1951 when he became program director in Toledo. Moving up to executive director in 1956 he remained the COO through his retirement in 1986.
A tenacious fundraiser, Rutter’s program budgeted operations were always well financed, and during his professional career he raised the necessary funds to purchase four separate JA business centers without a full capital fund drive. He worked tirelessly to provide benefits for the achievers in his program, establishing a national record by developing a one-million dollar scholarship fund.
Rutter served on numerous national committees, including the Personnel Committee, Program Development Committee, the Metro Strategy Committee, the Divisional Development Committee, and the National Hall of Fame Committee. He was also the chair of several staff conferences throughout his career. In 1969, he was the recipient of the Charles R. Hook Award for outstanding performance as a field staff professional.
Rutter’s high profile and dedication to Junior Achievement has not gone without notice within the Toledo community. In 1961 he received the Toledo Department of Education Award For Service to Youth. In 1970, he was named “Marketing Man of the Year,” received the Toastmaster Award for Youth Leadership, and the Toledo Council of Parents and Teachers Award for Contribution to Youth. In 1986 the Dana Corporation established a scholarship in his name which is presented annually to a student from the northwestern Ohio area JA operation.
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