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Fish was a vocal advocate for hosting the [[Boston 2024|2024 Summer Olympics in Boston]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chesto|first1=Jon|title=Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish makes his case for Boston's 2024 Olympics bid|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2014/06/suffolk-construction-ceo-john-fish-makes-his-case.html?page=all|website=Boston Business Journal|date=13 June 2014}}</ref> and he was chair of the Boston 2024 Partnership, a private group that worked on the bid<ref name="horowitz">{{cite web|last1=Horowitz|first1=Evan|title=What are the costs and benefits of a Boston Olympics?|url=http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/18/what-are-costs-and-benefits-boston-olympics/64cRAO60nM4Ah5BkF4fJTK/story.html|website=Boston Globe|date=18 November 2014}}</ref> until the city ultimately withdrew its bid to host the Games on July 27, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arsenault|first1=Mark|title=USOC, Boston organizers halt bid to host Olympics|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/27/discussions-underway-that-could-end-boston-olympic-bid/WlJlAoTnCf23rGy5hrpQtN/story.html|website=Boston Globe|date=27 July 2015}}</ref>
Fish was a vocal advocate for hosting the [[Boston 2024|2024 Summer Olympics in Boston]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chesto|first1=Jon|title=Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish makes his case for Boston's 2024 Olympics bid|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2014/06/suffolk-construction-ceo-john-fish-makes-his-case.html?page=all|website=Boston Business Journal|date=13 June 2014}}</ref> and he was chair of the Boston 2024 Partnership, a private group that worked on the bid<ref name="horowitz">{{cite web|last1=Horowitz|first1=Evan|title=What are the costs and benefits of a Boston Olympics?|url=http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/18/what-are-costs-and-benefits-boston-olympics/64cRAO60nM4Ah5BkF4fJTK/story.html|website=Boston Globe|date=18 November 2014}}</ref> until the city ultimately withdrew its bid to host the Games on July 27, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arsenault|first1=Mark|title=USOC, Boston organizers halt bid to host Olympics|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/27/discussions-underway-that-could-end-boston-olympic-bid/WlJlAoTnCf23rGy5hrpQtN/story.html|website=Boston Globe|date=27 July 2015}}</ref>


== Other roles ==
== Philanthropy ==
In 2008, the Lewis Family Foundation honored Fish with a CEO Social Leadership Award at the ''[[Boston Business Journal]]'''s Corporate Philanthropy & Citizenship Summit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/08/11/daily52.html|title=John Fish wins Social Leadership Award|date=August 15, 2008|publisher=Boston Business Journal|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref>
In addition to his work at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston,<ref name="thomas" /> Fish is a founding member of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP),<ref>{{cite web|title=Massachusetts Competitive Partnership Leadership|url=http://masscompetes.org/leadership.html|website=Massachusetts Competitive Partnership|accessdate=5 December 2014}}</ref> chair of the [[Brigham and Women’s Hospital]] “Life.Giving.Breakthroughs” $1 billion [[capital campaign]],<ref>{{cite web|title=BWN Launches $1 Billion Campaign|url=http://give.brighamandwomens.org/stories/entry/brigham-kicks-off-campaign-for-future-of-medicine|website=Brigham and Women's Hospital|accessdate=5 December 2014}}</ref> founder of Boston Scholar Athletes,<ref>{{cite web|title=Fish's Scholar Athletes|url=https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/commercial-real-estate/Fishs-Scholar-Athletes-8811|website=Bisnow|date=2 October 2012}}</ref> and chairman of [[Boston College]]’s Board of Trustees, the first non-[[alumnus]] in that role.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Dunn, Jack|author2=Sullivan, Kathleen|title=Trustees Welcome New Chair, Members|url=http://www.bc.edu/publications/chronicle/FeaturesNewsTopstories/2014/news/trustees-welcome-new-chair--members.html|website=Boston College Chronicle|date=2 October 2014}}</ref>

Fish has provided scholarships for multiple children to attend Tabor Academy.<ref name=bm/> In 2009, Fish founded Boston Scholar Athletes, an organization aimed at helping student athletes improve their academic performance,<ref>{{cite web|title=Fish's Scholar Athletes|url=https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/commercial-real-estate/Fishs-Scholar-Athletes-8811|website=Bisnow|date=2 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/boston_scholar_athletes_progra.html|title=Boston Scholar Athletes program set to expand to Springfield's Putnam Vocational Technical Academy|date=July 11, 2014|author=Peter Goonan|publisher=Mass Live|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> and he has donated $6 million to the program. The multimillion-dollar nonprofit runs tutoring centers in 20 high schools and supports underfunded athletic teams with uniforms, equipment and coaching clinics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/30/john-fish-first-civic-project-has-changed-young-lives/gjnFiXkH8rt43CYAPnY1fI/story.html|title=Despite Scholar Athletes program, Boston still fails student athletes|author=Bob Hohler|date=May 31, 2015|publisher=Boston Globe|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref>

In 2010, Fish joined a group of 14 chief executives from the largest companies in Massachusetts to establish the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP). Fish was named chairman of the organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/28/14_ceos_unite_to_make_business_heard/|title=14 CEOs unite to make business heard|author=Steven Syre|date=February 28, 2010|publisher=Boston.com|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2013/05/28/19531-men-behind-those-anti-wind-farm-ads|title=The men behind those anti-wind farm ads|author=Walter Brooks|date=May 28, 2013|publisher=Cape Cod Today|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/01/11/meet-boston-most-powerful-business-group/pieWzRKM1J0DyVa1W5qz5H/story.html|title=Powerful business group keeps low profile in Boston|author=Jon Chesto|date=January 12, 2016|publisher=Boston Globe|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> In 2011, Fish and his wife were inducted into the Seneca Society of [[Hobart and William Smith Colleges]].<ref name=hws>{{cite web|url=http://www.hws.edu/alumni/pssurvey/summer11/seneca_society.aspx|title=Seneca Society Welcomes New Members|publisher=Hobart and William Smith Colleges|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref>

He has served as fundraising campaign chair for [[Brigham and Women's Hospital]]'s “Life.Giving.Breakthroughs” $1 billion [[capital campaign]], and has donated $5 million to the cause.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/health-care/2013/09/brigham-and-womens-raises-550m-of.html|title=Brigham and Women's raises $550M of $1B campaign|date=September 13, 2013|publisher=Boston Business Journal|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=BWN Launches $1 Billion Campaign|url=http://give.brighamandwomens.org/stories/entry/brigham-kicks-off-campaign-for-future-of-medicine|website=Brigham and Women's Hospital|accessdate=5 December 2014}}</ref>

In 2014, Fish was named Chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2014/01/fish-named-greater-boston-chamber-chair.html|title=John Fish to chair Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce|date=January 21, 2014|publisher=Boston Business Journal|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> He also served as chair of [[Federal Reserve Bank of Boston]]'s board of directors until 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/12/22/federal-reserve-bank-boston-has-new-leadership-members/1E77b64fDAp9HG3YrvbPfI/story.html|title=Deirdre Fernandes|date=December 22, 2016|publisher=Boston Globe|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> He was named chairman of [[Boston College]]’s Board of Trustees, the first non-[[alumnus]] in that role.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Dunn, Jack|author2=Sullivan, Kathleen|title=Trustees Welcome New Chair, Members|url=http://www.bc.edu/publications/chronicle/FeaturesNewsTopstories/2014/news/trustees-welcome-new-chair--members.html|website=Boston College Chronicle|date=2 October 2014}}</ref> Fish is also on the board of the [[Boys & Girls Clubs of America|Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston]].<ref name=bg>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/07/30/john-fish-expected-bounce-back-from-his-olympics-loss/NSvXqxT0CrISHTSMNBUpqO/story.html|title=After Olympics bid, John Fish is down but hardly out|author=Jon Chesto|date=July 31, 2015|publisher=Boston Globe|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref>

Fish has donated to Republican and Democrat political campaigns. He supported the Obama campaign in 2007 and raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama's 2012 bid for re-election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/20/news/la-pn-obama-bundler-firm-romney-super-pac-20120220|title=Obama bundler's firm backed Romney 'super PAC'|date=February 20, 2012|author=Ian Duncan|publisher=Los Angeles Times|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref>
In November 2015, Fish was given the Ralph Lowell Distinguished Citizen Award for service to others from the [[Boy Scouts of America]] [[Spirit of Adventure Council]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20151103/NEWS/151108678|title=Boy Scouts to honor John Fish and Richard Packer|date=November 3, 2015|publisher=Patriot Ledger|access-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref>


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==

Revision as of 13:29, 19 June 2017

For other persons named John Fish, see John Fish.
John Fish
NationalityAmerican
Occupationbusinessman
SpouseCynthia (Gelsthorpe) Fish
Children3

John Fish is an American businessman. He is the longtime chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction Company, the largest building company in New England,[1] and was chair of the private effort to secure Boston’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Fish was the chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and was the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.[2] In 2012 and 2015, Boston magazine named him the #1 most powerful person in Boston,[3][4] and the 6th most influential person in Boston philanthropy in 2013.[5] The Boston Globe named Fish Bostonian of the Year in 2015.[6]

Early life and education

Fish was raised in Hingham, Massachusetts, with four siblings.[7] Fish grew up with dyslexia. He attended Tabor Academy where he played football. He was captain of the team his senior year, and continued to play in college until he suffered a neck injury.[8] He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1982[9] with a political science degree.[10]

Career

After college, Fish worked for Peabody Construction, his father's company.[8] When he was 23,[1] In 1982,[11] Fish and his father established Suffolk Construction Company, an offshoot of the family construction business.[7] In 2006, Fish bought out his father's stake in the company.[11] Fish built the company into a top national construction company[12] responsible for high-profile projects such as Boston’s Millennium Tower and a new facility at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.[13] $2 billion in annual revenue, and almost $6 billion in projects under way in Boston.[7] By March 2017, the company had 1,715 employees and $3 billion in annual sales.[14]

Fish was a vocal advocate for hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics in Boston,[15] and he was chair of the Boston 2024 Partnership, a private group that worked on the bid[16] until the city ultimately withdrew its bid to host the Games on July 27, 2015.[17]

Philanthropy

In 2008, the Lewis Family Foundation honored Fish with a CEO Social Leadership Award at the Boston Business Journal's Corporate Philanthropy & Citizenship Summit.[18]

Fish has provided scholarships for multiple children to attend Tabor Academy.[8] In 2009, Fish founded Boston Scholar Athletes, an organization aimed at helping student athletes improve their academic performance,[19][20] and he has donated $6 million to the program. The multimillion-dollar nonprofit runs tutoring centers in 20 high schools and supports underfunded athletic teams with uniforms, equipment and coaching clinics.[21]

In 2010, Fish joined a group of 14 chief executives from the largest companies in Massachusetts to establish the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP). Fish was named chairman of the organization.[22][23][24] In 2011, Fish and his wife were inducted into the Seneca Society of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.[25]

He has served as fundraising campaign chair for Brigham and Women's Hospital's “Life.Giving.Breakthroughs” $1 billion capital campaign, and has donated $5 million to the cause.[26][27]

In 2014, Fish was named Chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.[28] He also served as chair of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's board of directors until 2017.[29] He was named chairman of Boston College’s Board of Trustees, the first non-alumnus in that role.[30] Fish is also on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.[31]

Fish has donated to Republican and Democrat political campaigns. He supported the Obama campaign in 2007 and raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama's 2012 bid for re-election.[32]

In November 2015, Fish was given the Ralph Lowell Distinguished Citizen Award for service to others from the Boy Scouts of America Spirit of Adventure Council.[33]

Personal life

Fish is married to Cynthia (Gelsthorpe) Fish, daughter of American marketing executive Edward Gelsthorpe,[34] whom he met at Tabor Academy. They have three daughters.[35]

References

  1. ^ a b Wayshak, Marc (2 October 2014). "Rolling With the Punches: Heavy Hitter John Fish on How Early Challenges Shaped His Career". Huffington Post.
  2. ^ Geller, Jessica (4 December 2015). "John Fish named chairman of Boston Fed board". Boston Globe.
  3. ^ "The 50 Most Powerful People in Boston". Boston magazine. April 2012.
  4. ^ "Boston's 50 Most Powerful People: The List". Boston Magazine. May 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  5. ^ "The Power List: The 25 Most Influential People in Boston Philanthropy". Boston Magazine. April 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  6. ^ Shirley Leung (December 19, 2015). "Bostonians of the Year 2015: John Fish and Chris Dempsey". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Thomas, Jack (29 June 2014). "John Fish went from struggling boy to Olympic bidder". Boston Globe.
  8. ^ a b c James Burnett (October 2003). "This Man Is Building a $1 Billion Construction Empire". Boston Magazine. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  9. ^ R.S. Cook (September 30, 2013). "The Men Who Helped Build Boston". Boston Common Magazine. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  10. ^ Beth Brogan (January 9, 2015). "Leader of Boston's 2024 Olympics bid has Maine connection". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Richard Korman (June 2, 2010). "CEO John Fish Has 'Big, Audacous' Goals For Suffolk Construction". ENR Southeast. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  12. ^ Tulacz, Gary J. (15 May 2014). "The 2014 Top 400 Contractors". Engineering News Record.
  13. ^ "Top Places to Work 2014". Boston Globe. 13 November 2014.
  14. ^ "John Fish, Boston's Most Powerful Builder". Bostn Magazine. March 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  15. ^ Chesto, Jon (13 June 2014). "Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish makes his case for Boston's 2024 Olympics bid". Boston Business Journal.
  16. ^ Horowitz, Evan (18 November 2014). "What are the costs and benefits of a Boston Olympics?". Boston Globe.
  17. ^ Arsenault, Mark (27 July 2015). "USOC, Boston organizers halt bid to host Olympics". Boston Globe.
  18. ^ "John Fish wins Social Leadership Award". Boston Business Journal. August 15, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  19. ^ "Fish's Scholar Athletes". Bisnow. 2 October 2012.
  20. ^ Peter Goonan (July 11, 2014). "Boston Scholar Athletes program set to expand to Springfield's Putnam Vocational Technical Academy". Mass Live. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  21. ^ Bob Hohler (May 31, 2015). "Despite Scholar Athletes program, Boston still fails student athletes". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  22. ^ Steven Syre (February 28, 2010). "14 CEOs unite to make business heard". Boston.com. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  23. ^ Walter Brooks (May 28, 2013). "The men behind those anti-wind farm ads". Cape Cod Today. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  24. ^ Jon Chesto (January 12, 2016). "Powerful business group keeps low profile in Boston". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  25. ^ "Seneca Society Welcomes New Members". Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  26. ^ "Brigham and Women's raises $550M of $1B campaign". Boston Business Journal. September 13, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  27. ^ "BWN Launches $1 Billion Campaign". Brigham and Women's Hospital. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  28. ^ "John Fish to chair Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce". Boston Business Journal. January 21, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  29. ^ "Deirdre Fernandes". Boston Globe. December 22, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  30. ^ Dunn, Jack; Sullivan, Kathleen (2 October 2014). "Trustees Welcome New Chair, Members". Boston College Chronicle.
  31. ^ Jon Chesto (July 31, 2015). "After Olympics bid, John Fish is down but hardly out". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  32. ^ Ian Duncan (February 20, 2012). "Obama bundler's firm backed Romney 'super PAC'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  33. ^ "Boy Scouts to honor John Fish and Richard Packer". Patriot Ledger. November 3, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  34. ^ William Grimes (September 27, 2009). "Edward Gelsthorpe, Master Marketer, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  35. ^ "Jennifer Fish". Bucknell. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
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