The Sharing of Knowledge and Experiences

Donor Profile

Back from the war in 1946, Bill Ginder spent his days lifting tinplate for the American Can Company and his nights studying for a bachelor’s degree in business at Johns Hopkins. The schedule was challenging, but those night school classes led to success during the day—and a stellar 40-year-career.

“Because we were in school at night, we were taught by people who also actually worked in the field,” Bill says. “So while I was working during the day, I could match the theory with the practice, which gave me a great foundation for a career.”

A few years into the eight he would spend at Johns Hopkins completing his degree and taking extra classes in accounting, Ginder left the can company for Crown Central Petroleum Corporation, a Baltimore-based producer of petrochemicals and petroleum products. There, he worked his way up from property accounting clerk to president and vice chairman. He retired from the company in 1986.

“Johns Hopkins gave me the skills I needed, and luckily, I was able to apply what I learned in my career and, consequently, to afford to give a few dollars every year,” says Bill, who has made consistent annual gifts to the university and hospital since 1979. Along with his wife, Katherine, he has also supported the Children’s Center and Peabody Conservatory.

After contributing to the annual fund for many years, Ginder thought back to his days of classroom learning from working professionals and created a program that would do the same for today’s Carey Business School students. Established in 1989, the William M. and Katherine B. Ginder Lecture Fund, he says, “represents something I strongly believe in – the sharing of knowledge and experiences.”  Since its creation, the annual lecture has featured speakers including Paul S. Sarbanes, former U.S. senator; Kevin A. Plank, founder and president of Under Armour; Ralph W. Shrader, CEO and chairman of Booz Allen Hamilton; Peter G. Peterson, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce; and, most recently, Jean-Paul Agon, president and chief executive officer of L’Oreal.

The couple recently bolstered their support to total $1 million, also establishing a new visiting professorship program that brings high-level faculty from prestigious institutions around the world to spend three to six months at the Carey Business School, collaborating with faculty and teaching students.“Mentors helped me over my career, starting at Johns Hopkins, and I have always, since childhood, read about people, particularly people in business and finance, for inspiration,” Ginder says. “I thought it would be useful for students to hear from role models so they can see the kinds of opportunities available to them.”