JOHN M. BULBROOK
1964-65 Corning Fellow
Potential Changes in Middle-management of European Companies Due to Effects of the Common Market
John’s fellowship explored the following question: Would family-dominated European companies maintain their lean middle-management structure with the integration and larger environment brought on by Common Market or would the middle management structure evolve to be more corpulent like American companies?
Hometown: Fort Worth, TX
Majors: Mechanical Engineering, Economics, English
John is the founder and CEO of Bulbrook/Drislane Brokerage, a national distributor of financial products headquartered in the Boston area.
After his fellowship, John went to Infantry Officer Basic Training, Airborne School, and U.S. Army Intelligence School and spent one year in Vietnam, with the U.S. Army 4th Division. He returned to the States and went directly to the Harvard Business School. He received his MBA and has had a successful career in business ever since, focused on his passion for the world of finance and investments.
“The Traveling Fellowship put my life in the context of a wide, varied world from which I could serve my country, attend business school, found and run my financial services business, marry my sweetheart and raise a family. As I prepare to retire and watch my grandchildren grow, I am eternally grateful.”
— John Bulbrook, 1964-65
TRAVEL STORIES
I recall with a smile demonstrating Corning Centuraware, its ruggedness, by using a Centuraware coffee cup to hammer a big nail into a piece of wood balanced on a wastebasket. I was sent to call on Nestle to get them to use our products. We hoped they would buy one million carafes like the US Maxwell House promotion. Next I heated a Corning Ware Pyroceram dish red hot with a blowtorch and then poured ice cubes into it to show it wouldn’t break. It took something this dramatic to convince the careful Swiss that we were onto something new – and good. I also demonstrated these features with Jamie Houghton when we visited the manufacturer of cast iron electric stovetop burners in Germany. We wanted to convince them that Corning Pyroceram would be a great alternative to cast iron. I created a flip book with the various heat transfer co-efficients for both materials, and I was thrilled when the company president, a cautious German engineer, agreed.
This couldn’t happen today, but I have to admit I boarded airplanes with my handy, little blowtorch.
I visited Senator Raul Manglapus in the Philippines; a fellow Fellow told me he would be an interesting person to meet. Without any preamble or introduction, I phoned his office and was invited to spend some time with him. I learned to be bold about cold calling.
ITINERARY
John earned altogether 42 countries by stamps on his passport in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia… Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Austria, UK, The Netherlands, Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Egypt, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Australia, New Zealand to name a few!
