H. Fisk Johnson Professional Profile & Biography

COMPANY & CAREER

Fisk Johnson joined SC Johnson in 1987 and was appointed CEO in 2004.

SC Johnson is a global maker of household, personal care, baby care, and professional products with sales in almost every country in the world. SC Johnson Brands include Glade^®, OFF!^®, Pledge^®, Mr Muscle^®, Duck^®, Baygon^® and Raid^®, Ziploc^®, Scrubbing Bubbles^®, Windex^®, Autan^®, Shout^®, Mrs. Meyers^® Clean Day, Babyganics^®, method^®, and Ecover^®, Sun Bum^®, and many others.

Fisk holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Physics, a Master of Engineering, a Master of Science in Physics, a Master of Business Administration, and a doctorate in Physics, all from Cornell University. He served on the Cornell University Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2001 and is now a Trustee Emeritus and Presidential Counselor. He has also served on the University of Chicago's Physical Sciences Division Council since 1996.

Fisk has served in various Board of Directors, including The Consumer Goods Forum, Conservation International and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Fisk has been privileged to serve on two federal advisory committees — as a member of the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 2019 to 2021 and as a member of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations from 2002 to 2010 and again from 2011 to 2015.

In addition to more than 35 years of global business experience, Fisk has over 30 years of experience as managing director of a private technology-oriented venture capital business.

Fisk is a devoted father who enjoys spending a great deal of time with his daughter. He's an accomplished pilot with more than 2,000 hours of glider, seaplane, instrument, multi-engine, and C550-type ratings. He is also an avid scuba diver and enjoys many outdoor sports.

INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP

Beyond working to continually launch innovative, quality products that work, SC Johnson has long been a champion of responsible chemistry, chemical regulation reform and ingredient disclosure.

SC Johnson has a decades-long track record of continuously improving the safety and environmental profile of its products. The SC Johnson Greenlist^™ process, which launched in 2001, formalized SC Johnson's process and made continuous improvement of chemical selection a company policy.

"People have a fundamental right to know what's in the products we give them, and for that matter, what everyone else gives them." - Fisk Johnson via Huffington Post

The company has also taken significant and unprecedented steps in ingredient transparency. Ten years after launching its industry-leading North American ingredient communication program, in 2019, SC Johnson fulfilled its promise of a global transparency program. Today, the company offers ingredient transparency to consumers everywhere in the world who use its products.

ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL LEADERSHIP

With a background in science and business, Fisk is a passionate advocate for practical paths forward on sustainability issues that include reducing plastic waste, green energy, carbon reduction, green chemistry and ingredient transparency. He has been a strong advocate for greater plastic regulation, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to improve recycling infrastructure, which he advocated for during a U.S. Senate hearing on EPR policies for consumer packaging in March 2024. Fisk is also a strong advocate for an ambitious global treaty to end plastic pollution being negotiated now among more than 170 countries.

Beyond sustainability, SC Johnson has spent over 60 years advancing insect science to fight mosquito borne diseases such as malaria, Zika and dengue. Over the past decade, the company has developed and tested spatial repellents as a new public health intervention in vulnerable communities. With studies confirming the effectiveness of its Mosquito Shield™ and Guardian™ repellents in these settings, SC Johnson is now supporting the final research for a WHO policy recommendation – making it one of the first new malaria prevention tools in 25 years.

RECOGNITION & AWARDS

Fisk and SC Johnson have received numerous awards for environmental and social leadership, including the Presidential Green Chemistry Award, the Environmental Protection Agency's Lifetime Atmospheric Achievement Award, multiple EPA Green Power Leadership Awards, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy's Force for Good Award, the World Environment Center's Gold Medal Award for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development, the International Leadership Award from the U.S. Council for International Business, the 2023 Leadership for a Better World Award from the United Nations Foundation in recognition of his work to create a more sustainable world, and two honorary doctorates, among many others.

ARTICLES & FEATURES

At Work to Help End Malaria
H Fisk Johnson - Girls Inc. of Chicago's first-ever “Male Ally of the Year”
Fisk Johnson | Collective Action Needed on Plastic Waste

SC Johnson Chief Fisk Johnson Dives Deep, Goes Wide Against Plastic Wastes Chief Executive

CEO Shares How Transparency Helps SC Johnson Address Global 'Crisis of Trust’ Triple Pundit

Building Trust: Why Transparency Must Be Part of the Equation A White Paper from GlobeScan and SC Johnson

SC Johnson CEO On Why The Issue Of Ocean Plastic Is Solvable Huffington Post

Top Executives on Leading in a Volatile World SHRM Blog

SC Johnson CEO Fisk Johnson Elevates Transparency In An Unlikely Industry Chief Executive

Trust in Transparency: 5 Questions With SC Johnson CEO Fisk Johnson Brand Channel

The Secret to a "High-Trust Organization“ Transparent By Design / Scientific American Custom Media

SC Johnson's CEO on Doing the Right Thing, Even When It Hurts Business Harvard Business Review

How Fisk Johnson Works to Keep the Shine on Family Business The Wall Street Journal

This CEO Wants You To Know Your Essential Oil Air Freshener Has Hundreds Of Chemicals In It The Huffington Post

CEO Admits That Environmentalism Does Cost Him Profits. And that's fine The Huffington Post

Environmentalists praise SC Johnson CEO for raising plastics concerns (jsonline.com) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

CEO of SC Johnson touts efforts to reduce environmental damage (jsonline.com) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After seeing exhibit, Racine officials look to change plastic policies (jsonline.com) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Plastic crisis on display at Museum of Science and Industry - Axios Chicago Axios Chicago

"...trustworthiness is the most important quality a company can have. It has to be earned."

BOARDS

He also serves on the US Trade Representatives Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation (since 2002) and the Consumer Goods Forum Board of Directors. Fisk recently served as a member of the US President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology from 2019 to 2021.

He also served on the Cornell University Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2001 and now is a Trustee Emeritus and Presidential Counselor. From 2002 to 2011, he served on the Board of Directors of Conservation International. Previously, he served as Director of Energizer Holdings, Inc. and Johnson Outdoors Inc. He also was a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development from 2004 to 2008.

Fisk was named Florida Southern College's 77th Honorary Chancellor and received an Honorary Doctorate. He also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in June of 2011.

Fisk was named to the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy in 2017, and contributed to its groundbreaking 2019 report.