Wallace R. Persons
Former Chairman
Emerson
Laureate 2006
Wallace R. “Buck” Persons was born in 1909 in Painesville, Ohio, a small community near Cleveland. Buck was a math whiz and excelled in football, basketball, and track and field, even winning the Ohio State High School title in the broad jump. In his senior yearbook, Buck, president of his class, was quoted: “Not everyone can see things from my point of view — six feet one.” he eventually grew to 6 feet, 3-½ inches. After Buck got off to a slow start in college, his father, a manufacturing foreman, expressed concern about his lack of commitment. The pep talk worked, with Buck graduating from Case School of Applied Science (now Case Western Reserve University) with honors and a master’s degree in civil engineering, while starring on Case’s basketball and football teams. Graduating during the Great Depression, Buck initially couldn’t find work in engineering, so he taught math and coached high school football. After a year, however, he became restless and found a job at Lincoln Electric selling welders to manufacturers, eventually rising to Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In 1954, at age 44, Buck became president of Emerson Electric Co. in St. Louis, where he diversified and decentralized the company’s manufacturing base. When he retired as CEO in 1973, Emerson had grown from 4,000 employees in two plants to 1,000 employees in 82 facilities and had become a Fortune 500 company, with nearly 51 billion in sales. In 1989, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement Global Business Hall of Fame. Buck, who died in 1999, was also a leader in community service, playing a key role in the early development of the United Way, heading St. Louis’ Civic Progress for two years, and offering significant support to institutions of higher education.
Select a button below to see how you or your organization can get involved with Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis, Inc..
Donate Volunteer Request A Program