Nine West owner talks shoes at lecture

Jerome Fisher, a University Trustee and donor who heads a major American women's shoe maker, kicked off a yearlong business-leadership lecture series yesterday by sharing the story of his success. Fisher, a 1953 Wharton graduate who gave $5.5 million in 1995 to endow the Management and Technology Program, told a group of more than 100 students and faculty members in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall how he transformed a small shoe manufacturing company he started when he was 27 into a "dominant" player in the global marketplace. Fisher is chairperson of Nine West Group Inc., which sells upscale women's shoes in almost a dozen countries on five continents and had revenue last year of $1.87 billion. The speech was the first in the 1998-99 Musser-Schoemaker Leadership Lecture Series. He began by explaining that his father owned a shoe manufacturing company and that he would "dream that I always wanted to be a shoe manufacturer." After explaining the growth of his company over three decades, Fisher answered questions from audience members. Students asked about White Plains, N.Y.-based Nine West's global strategies, marketing techniques and product expansions, among other things. When asked about the possibility for college graduates to become entrepreneurs, Fisher said that he believes it is more difficult today than when he began his company more than 30 years ago. But he emphasized that people may have said the same thing at the time. "There is opportunity for someone very creative and innovative, who can move fast" in today's business world, he added. "They can be successful." Asked about how he deals with the intricacies of international business, operating in countries with democratic and non-democratic governments, Fisher simply said: "I deal with the manufacturer. I stay away from the government." Fisher also explained his role as a philanthropist involved with a variety of organizations, including medical, social and educational institutions. In response to a student's inquiry of how he decides to donate his money, Fisher explained the reasons for his gifts to Penn, which have included funds for the M&T; program and the renovation of the Jerome and Anne Fisher Fine Arts Library. The University "enhanced me personally," he said, and he "wanted to pay back to the University" for all it has done for him in life. Andro Nodarse, who is in his fourth of five years in the M&T; program, said that "it was very good that he made it so informal [and] just gave you the opportunity to talk to a [head] of a major company." Past speakers in the Musser-Schoemaker series -- which aims to "provide an opportunity for distinguished individuals? to share their ideas, opinions and 'secrets of success' with Wharton and Penn students" -- have included real estate tycoon Donald Trump and late U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown. Upcoming lecturers this year include Barnes & Noble Inc. Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Leonard Riggio and Robert Hurst, vice chairperson of Goldman, Sachs & Co. The next lecture will feature Lawrence M.v.D. Schloss, managing partner of DLJ Merchant Banking, on October 29.