John Dillworth, B.B.A.'79

Department of Marketing - Hall of Fame Award

After graduation from WMU, John Dillworth began a career with Kellogg Company. The first ten years of his career saw him holding various sales positions within the company in New York and Detroit; during this time, he also completed his MBA at the University of Detroit.

Next, he joined food service marketing at Kellogg, holding multiple director-level positions. He was responsible for developing new business opportunities for Kellogg Foodservice USA, including new product development and new market development from concept to execution. John started at Kellogg in the vending business, the in-store bakery/deli business and the MRE business. Product introductions on which he worked include Snack-a-longs, Kosher Rice Krispies Treat Sheets, and All Bran Muffins in conjunction with Duncan Hines, among others. In addition, he worked as a member of the mergers and acquisitions group on Morningstar Farms and Kashi – two extremely significant acquisitions for Kellogg.

During his tenure at Kellogg, he oversaw many areas, including strategic planning, IT, budget management, customer service, hiring, advertising and publicity, among others. He was also a member of the 16-person task force whose mission was to identify the systems, organization and infrastructure necessary to enable Kellogg North America to become customer-service-focused in the 1990s.

In 2000, he became president/CEO of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan where he is responsible for developing and growing human services, retail stores, industrial manufacturing and custodial divisions to provide a continuing financially solvent contributor to employment and training within southwestern Michigan. Goodwill of Southwest Michigan helps over 2,500 people with barriers to employment annually. Goodwill has a compounded annual growth rate of 75% over the past 10 years.