History - 2004 Speaker
John T. LampeChairman, CEO, and President
Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.
Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation. BSAH, through its subsidiaries develops, manufactures, and markets a wide range of tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers and those in agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies also produce Firestone Air Springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber and industrial fibers and textiles. In addition, BSAH, through its subsidiary BFS Retail & Commercial Operations, LLC, operates the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers. BSAH has annual sales in excess of $7.5 billion and employs more than 51,000 people in the Americas. Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. It’s products are sold in over 150 nations and territories around the world.
Mr. Lampe was born in Wellington, Kansas, June 28, 1947. He attended high school in Pittsburg, Kansas, and graduated from Pittsburg State University (also in Pittsburg, Kansas) in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He was then commissioned in the United States Army and served at locations in the United States and Germany from 1969 to 1972, attaining the rank of captain. Following his military service, he attended graduate school, and in 1973 earned a master’s degree in international management from the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona.
Mr. Lampe joined Firestone’s International Division in 1973, and in 1975 became the Far East export representative, residing in Singapore. In 1977, he relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark, at which time he became a senior field export representative covering Northern Europe. He returned to company headquarters in Akron, Ohio in 1978 as export manager. Two years later, he was named export coordinator in Bilbao, Spain. In 1981, Mr. Lampe was appointed sales manager at Firestone Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica, and in 1984 was named sales and marketing director of Firestone Brazil in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
He returned to Akron in October of 1988 as the head of the sales and marketing operations of Bridgestone/Firestone’s associate and private brand division. In July 1991, this division was combined with the company’s manufacturing facility in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and became Dayton Tire, a separate integrated business unit of Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. Mr. Lampe was named president and relocated to the company’s headquarters in Oklahoma City.
In February 1995, he moved to Nashville and was appointed president of Bridgestone/Firestone Tire Sales Company and executive vice president and member of the board of directors for Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. On October 10, 2000, Mr. Lampe was named Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. Following a corporate reorganization in December 2001, Mr. Lampe now holds the concurrent positions of Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. and its subsidiary, BFS Diversified Products, LLC. BFDP develops, manufactures and markets industrial products, rubber roofing and insulation, polymers, and synthetic rubber. BFDP also operates a natural rubber plantation.
Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Lampe has served his community in a number of significant positions, and likewise has received numerous honors and awards. He served as a member of the board of directors of the American Cancer Society in Akron, Ohio from 1989 to 1991. Subsequently, at the request of the Governor of Oklahoma, he served on the Governor’s Business Roundtable from 1992 to 1994. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Lampe was a member of the board of directors of the American Trucking Association and currently serves in similar capacities with the Rubber Manufacturers Association and the Middle Tennessee Boy Scouts. Within Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. he received the Chairman’s Award in 1992, 1995 and 1998.
Mr. Lampe is married to the former Barbara Moske of Frankenthal, Germany. They have two grown children - a son Patrick and a daughter Meike and one granddaughter. The Lampes reside in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
